In our illustration of the actor, we spoke, for the moment, as though
each spectator's mind were wholly occupied by the one actor. If this
were the case, it might be possible to define the biography of one
spectator as a series of successive aspects of the actor related
according to the laws of dynamics. But in fact this is not the case.
We are at all times during our waking life receiving a variety of
impressions, which are aspects of a variety of things. We have to
consider what binds together two simultaneous sensations in one
person, or, more generally, any two occurrences which forte part of one
experience. We might say, adhering to the standpoint of physics, that
two aspects of different things belong to the same perspective when
they are in the same place. But this would not really help us, since a
"place" has not yet been defined. Can we define what is meant by saying
that two aspects are "in the same place," without introducing anything
beyond the laws of perspective and dynamics?
I do not feel sure whether it is possible to frame such a definition or
not; accordingly I shall not assume that it is possible, but shall
seek other characteristics by which a perspective or biography may be
defined.
When (for example) we see one man and hear another speaking at the
same time, what we see and what we hear have a relation which we
can perceive, which makes the two together form, in some sense, one
experience. It is when this relation exists that two occurrences become
associated. Semon's "engram" is formed by all that we experience at one
time. He speaks of two parts of this total as having the relation of
"Nebeneinander" (M. 118; M.E. 33 ff.), which is reminiscent of Herbart's
"Zusammen." I think the relation may be called simply "simultaneity." It
might be said that at any moment all sorts of things that are not part
of my experience are happening in the world, and that therefore the
relation we are seeking to define cannot be merely simultaneity.
This, however, would be an error--the sort of error that the theory
of relativity avoids. There is not one universal time, except by an
elaborate construction; there are only local times, each of which may
be taken to be the time within one biography. Accordingly, if I am (say)
hearing a sound, the only occurrences that are, in any simple sense,
simultaneous with my sensation are events in my private world, i.e. in
my biography. We may therefore define the "perspective" to which
the sensation in question belongs as the set of particulars that are
simultaneous with this sensation. And similarly we may define the
"biography" to which the sensation belongs as the set of particulars
that are earlier or later than, or simultaneous with, the given
sensation. Moreover, the very same definitions can be applied to
particulars which are not sensations. They are actually required for the
theory of relativity, if we are to give a philosophical explanation
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