242 HUMANISM xm 



those functions which have to be performed in a variable 

 manner, and consequently need the aid of reflection. 

 Functions, on the other hand, which are regular and can 

 be performed in the same way, can be allowed to become 

 automatic, and even unconscious, at least under normal 

 circumstances. It will then appear that these biological 

 principles amply explain &quot; why the will has influence 

 over the tongue and fingers, and not over the heart 

 and liver.&quot; l The functions of the one must be 

 conscious, those of the other are better carried on by 

 mechanisms. 



The same principles suffice to deal also with the lapsed 

 intermediaries between the volition and the motion, which 

 now escape our consciousness. Historically all these 

 intermediate processes may be regarded as mechanisms 

 which have been developed for the better performance of 

 the motions or the better husbanding or directing of the 

 consciousness. They have, therefore, no interest for 

 themselves, and there is no reason why their normal 

 functioning should be conscious. 2 Primitive organisms, 

 however, manage to perform all the vital functions, for 

 which we now have specialized organs, without such 

 mechanisms. We must suppose, therefore, that in their 

 case there are no intermediaries involved in voluntary 

 motion, and that so the testimony of consciousness was 

 once literally accurate. It is substantially accurate also in 

 the higher organisms. For if it is generally true that 

 function moulds structure, and if all structures are acquired, 

 then the organism is made by the mode of life it has 

 chosen, and as a whole, with all its mechanisms, it is best 

 regarded as an embodied will. 



As for the failures of voluntary control which are due 

 to morbid degenerations in the organs, how can they 

 prove voluntary control to be unreal ? Surely the 



1 The existence of individual variations in the extent of this voluntary control 

 is a strong confirmation of this explanation. There are well-attested cases on 

 record where even the beating of the heart could be arrested at will, and it is well 

 known that some people can wag their ears, while others have this power only 

 over their tongue. 



2 In most of these cases, however, the withdrawal of consciousness is not 

 absolute. For disturbances of normal functioning are usually felt as pains. 



