PERCEPTION AND VOLITION 109 



and now, to which its spatial and temporal 

 relations are referred. This particular here 

 and now is apparently occupied by a par 

 ticular self in which the material world of 

 matter and movement is centred. But the 

 particular self is not merely a portion of 

 matter, but a living organism ; and the sur 

 rounding world is not a world perceived 

 merely as matter, but as matter in relation 

 with the life of this organism. What I per 

 ceive is what interests me as an organism ; 

 and my voluntary reactions upon the sur 

 rounding world are reactions in the interest 

 of my organism. 



Let us be quite clear on this point, for it 

 is of great importance. At first sight it may, 

 perhaps, seem that the surrounding inorganic 

 world is perceived merely as a physical world 

 of matter and energy, or that if we seem to 

 perceive it as anything else this is mere 

 anthropocentric illusion. It is true that in 

 practical life we regard the inorganic world 

 from the standpoint of its practical relation to 

 our own lives. The engineer or the workman 

 treats the world from the utilitarian stand 

 point of its uses and hindrances to human life 



