380 ZOOLOGICAL PHILOSOPHY 



We shall enquire therefore what really are the acts of the understand- 

 ing which constitute attention, thought, memory, and judgments. 

 We shall find that these four acts are the principal ones, the type or 

 source of all the rest, and that it is wrong to place in the first rank 

 will, which is only a result of certain judgments, desire which is only a 

 moral need, and sensations which have nothing to do with intellect. 



In saying that desire is only a need or the consequence of a need 

 that is felt, I rely on the fact that needs may be divided into physical 

 needs and moral needs. 



Physical needs are those which arise in consequence of some sensation, 

 such as those for escaping from pain or discomfort and for satisfying 

 hunger, thirst, etc. 



Moral needs are those which arise from thoughts, and in which sensa- 

 tions have no share, such as those for seeking pleasure or comfort, 

 of fleeing from danger, of indulging one's interests or vanity, or any 

 passion or inclination, etc. , etc. ; desire is of this order. 



Both these kinds of needs arouse the individual's inner feeling in 

 proportion as he feels them, and this feeling promptly sets in movement 

 the nervous fluid so as to produce actions, either physical or moral, 

 suitable for satisfying them. 



Let us now examine each of the faculties of the first order which 

 when combined constitute the understanding or intellect. 



OF ATTENTION. 

 The First of the Principal Faculties of the Intellect. 



I now come to one of the most important subjects of study for 

 understanding how ideas and all intellectual acts come to be formed, 

 and how they result exclusively from physical causes ; I refer to 

 attentimi. 



Let us then enquire what attention is, and whether the definition of 

 it that I am about to give is confirmed by the known facts. 



Attention is a special act of the inner feeling ; it takes place in the 

 organ of intelligence and enables that organ to carry out its functions, 

 for which indeed it is indispensable. Attention is therefore not in 

 itself an operation of the intelligence but of the inner feeling, and 

 prepares the organ of thought or some part of it for carrying out its 

 acts. 



It may be described as an effort of an individual's inner feeUng, 

 sometimes prompted by a need arising in consequence of some sensa- 

 tion, and sometimes by a desire called up by the memory of an idea 

 or thought. This effort, by transporting and directing the available 

 part of the nervous fluid towards the organ of intelligence, prepares 



