ssible. The exploded
idea of mental substance and its attributes, held by the School men,
was probably suggested to them by the consciousness of this mental
unity. In our mentality there is something which makes each one say
"My mind," not "My minds." Now it is this unity of sensations, which
is lost, and the mind with it, if the ego is divided as Professor W.
James divides it into many egos such as--the inner self--the complex
self--the social self--the intellectual self--and so on. For how does
that help us? It is the same unknown quantity in different
circumstances. The self that ponders in thought, knows itself as the
same that talks in society. The strange power of being able to analyse
ourselves at all is one of the strangest things about us. What a world
of difference lies between the unconscious self of the animal and this
conscious self of man! Professor James' brilliantly written chapter of
investigation into the self leaves us amused rather than enlightened.
Against all arguments to the contrary, we should refuse to give up the
word mind, whether it is considered vague or defective in any or every
way. Mind in all its complexity, is what we have to investigate
scientifically. Mind in all its complexity is what the philosopher has
to explain, not mind, analysed into simple acts of consciousness. The
hypnotist talks of double, treble and quadruple personalities with
totally different characteristics "under suggestion," but it helps us
little for we have not yet defined mind on its sane and normal sides.
Considering the acuteness and the sanity of the French mind, it is
somewhat strange that the French psychologists should devote
themselves chiefly to the study of the insane and hysterical.
Philosophy, though it gives us soaring thoughts, grand speculations,
and metaphysical schemes, from Spinoza, Kant, Hegel, and Schopenhauer,
to Herbert Spencer, and Mr. Mallock, cannot give us any knowledge in
which they mutually agree. Mr. Mallock sums up philosophy as a
necessity to the mind. We _must_ believe in some theory of mind, some
religion, some philosophy, else life is dreary and unlivable. This
appears to be the result of his book "The Veil of the Temple," and
this is simply the doctrine of utility. But no philosopher, can tell
us why mind works on certain lines and not on others, because they
cannot tell us definitely that they _know_ what mind is. Mind is a
function of _Matter: Matter_ is a function of thought: Mi