76 The Unhorse and Life 



exist. The experiences of that one individual come to 

 me directly without mediation ; they are mine and no 

 one else's. With the destruction of that one body, my 

 experiences end; the universe, so far as I am con- 

 cerned, goes out of existence. The experiences of 

 other individuals come to me only indirectly and 

 through the mediation of many processes. And these 

 other individuals may disintegrate and disappear 

 without putting an end to my experiences, to my 

 universe. 



This one individual, this one body and the experi- 

 ences that go with it, is therefore m^/self in a sense 

 that no other one is. This unique relation of one par- 

 ticular individual to my experiences, to me, tends to 

 give that individual a more vivid reality, to me, to the 

 self, than any other has. I may be even led to hold, 

 as some philosophers have done, that I am the only 

 individual that exists ; that there are no others, and 

 that there is nothing outside of myself ; that / am the 

 universe. Most of us do not go so far as this. But we 

 cannot help but realize more fully our own reality, 

 our own pleasures and pains, needs and desires, pur- 

 poses and thoughts, than those of anyone else. 



In consequence, each tends to insist more strongly 

 that his own needs and desires and purposes shall be 

 fulfilled than those of anyone else. And this indeed 

 has within limits its justification. Each of us knows 

 his own needs and purposes better than does anyone 

 else ; and many of these can be fulfilled only by him- 

 self. I must satisfy my own detailed needs, for no one 

 else can. If every individual became so unselfish as to 



