Contents. xi 



CHAPTER XVI. 



PAGE 



SECTION I. The origin of consciousness. The science of 

 mind lies at foundation of philosophy The evolutionist 

 must show the relation of consciousness to the antecedent 

 modes of concrete being If an immediate operation of 

 First Cause be assumed, it is at the cost of the principle 

 of evolution Criticism of Mr. Spencer's statement : 

 ' ' The raw material of consciousness is present even in 

 undifferentiated protoplasm : " " The raw material of con- 

 sciousness everywhere exists protentially in the unknow- 

 able Power" To have recourse to the unknowable is to 

 take refuge in the outer darkness The theist holds a 

 clear and tenable position ; the agnostic is hopelessly at 

 fault Self, conscious of itself, stands apart The chasm 

 cannot be bridged over But if consciousness and phy- 

 sical phenomena cannot be brought together in one, 

 evolutionism is proved impossible, . . . 20> 



SECTION II. In what does consciousness inhere? Conscious- 

 ness is not latent in the matter of the organism Nor in 

 the force manifested in it But in the unknowable actu- 

 ality As a wave of molecular motion passes through a 

 nerve-centre, consciousness comes into being out of the 

 inscrutable If so every act of consciousness is deter- 

 mined by the fixed physical succession The law of mind 

 is subsumed under the law of matter Physical force is 

 enthroned as sovereign over the whole extent of know- 

 ledge, 21& 



SECTION III. The unit of consciousness. "Something of 

 the same order as that which we call a nervous shock is 

 the ultimate unit of consciousness" A nervous shock 

 not a feeling till it is felt Evolutionism cannot bring 

 consciousness within its sweep The central factor stands 

 out the great exception Consciousness essentially cogni- 

 tive The consciousness itself cannot be broken up into 

 units But to make the object of consciousness the unit 

 is impossible, for there is no one object of consciousness 

 That nerve-pulses and pulses of feeling are "inner and 

 outer faces of the same change " disputed Consciousness 



