66 SCIENCE AND PHILOSOPHY OF THE ORGANISM 



and if there were no such thing as the remarkable 

 phenomenon of association based upon contrast and 

 similarity. But these processes, and in particular the 

 process of resolving given complex peculiarities into other 

 peculiarities, can hardly be properly understood without 

 a discussion of the second fundamental characteristic of 

 action. 1 



In proceeding to discuss this second characteristic we do 

 not bid farewell to the first. On the contrary, as the first 

 proved to be incomplete in itself without the second, so the 

 second will prove to be inseparable from the first. 



7. THE SECOND CRITERION OF ACTING. "INDIVIDUALITY 



OF CORRESPONDENCE'' 



We have already explained, whilst dealing with the 

 theory of instincts, what is meant by a " simple ' and an 

 " individualised " stimulus. A stimulus is individualised if 

 it consists of a specific combination, specifically arranged, of 

 single elements ; the arrangement may be one of space as 

 well as one of time. 



Now the second of the two main characteristics of action, 

 considered as a problem of natural science, is that action 

 always is a reaction corresponding to an individualised 

 stimulus. I need only remind you that the sight of a 

 specific person or a specific house may influence your 



1 A psychological theory of association is not our business. Mere passive 

 association certainly contributes very little to psychical life, at least when 

 we are awake. It never accounts for the fact that among the innumerable 

 ideas that are "similar" to one another one comes into consciousness at 

 the given moment and none other. See the excellent 'discussion by Bergson 

 (Matiere et Memo ire, Paris, 1896), and compare also the concept of "apper- 

 ception " as used by Wundt. 



