The Principles of Psychology, Volume 1 (of 2)James, William
Philosophy
The Principles of Psychology, Volume 1 (of 2)
James, William
Psychology
"In its higher forms, Instinct is probably accompanied by a rudimentary
consciousness. There cannot be co-ordination of many stimuli without
some ganglion through which they are all brought into relation. In
the process of bringing them into relation, this ganglion must be
subject to the influence of each--must undergo many changes. And
the quick succession of changes in a ganglion, implying as it does
perpetual experiences of differences and likenesses, constitutes the
_raw material_ of consciousness. The _implication_ is that as fast as
Instinct is developed, some kind of consciousness becomes nascent."
(Psychology, § 195.)
The words 'raw material' and 'implication' which I have italicized
are the words which do the _evolving_. They are supposed to have
all the rigor which the 'synthetic philosophy' requires. In the
following passage, when 'impressions' pass through a common 'centre
of communication' in succession (much as people might pass into a
theatre through a turnstile) consciousness, non-existent until then, is
supposed to result:
"Separate impressions are received by the senses--by different parts
of the body. If they go no further than the places at which they
are received, they are useless. Or if only some of them are brought
into relation with one another, they are useless. That an effectual
adjustment may be made, they must be all brought into relation with one
another. But this implies some centre of communication common to them
all, through which they severally pass; and as they cannot pass through
it simultaneously, they must pass through it in succession. So that as
the external phenomena responded to become greater in number and more
complicated in kind, the variety and rapidity of the changes to which
this common centre of communication is subject must increase--there
must result an unbroken series of these changes-_there must arise a
consciousness_.
"Hence the progress of the correspondence between the organism and its
environment necessitates a gradual reduction of the sensorial changes
to a succession; and by so doing _evolves a distinct consciousness_--a
consciousness that becomes higher as the succession becomes more rapid
and the correspondence more complete." (_Ibid._ § 179.)
It is true that in the Fortnightly Review (vol. xiv, p. 716) Mr.
Spencer denies that he means by this passage to tell us anything about
the origin of consciousness at all. It resembles, however, too many
other places in his Psychology (e.g. §§ 43, 110, 244) not to be taken
as a serious attempt to explain how consciousness must at a certain
point be 'evolved.' That, when a critic calls his attention to the
inanity of his words, Mr. Spencer should say he never meant anything
particular by them, is simply an example of the scandalous vagueness
with which this sort of 'chromo-philosophy' is carried on.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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