COSMIC PHILOSOPHY 



the feeling ; and the former of these we call 

 sensation, while the latter we call perception. 



We shall now be greatly assisted by observ- 

 ing a psychological fact of which Sir William 

 Hamilton caught a glimpse, though, as usual, 

 his analysis was not sufficiently thorough, and 

 his statement of the case was inaccurate. We 

 need not pause to criticise the theorem that 

 while " perception proper and sensation proper 

 exist only as they coexist, in the degree or in- 

 tensity of their existence they are always found 

 in an inverse ratio to each other;" for its in- 

 accuracy has been fully demonstrated by Mr. 

 Mill and also by Mr. Spencer, who shows the 

 true statement to be, "not that sensation and 

 perception vary inversely, but that they exclude 

 each other with degrees of stringency which 

 vary inversely." To illustrate this, we will sup- 

 pose that you are getting water from a hot- 

 water faucet, and that, as the water begins by 

 running cold, you clasp your hand about the 

 faucet so as to turn it off when the water has 

 become sufficiently warm. While the water is 

 cool or tepid, sensation is at the minimum, and 

 not only is there no exclusion of perception, 

 but consciousness is occupied with the outer 

 phenomena, the faucet and the running water, 

 more than with the inner phenomenon, the 

 feeling of temperature. The pointed end of the 

 upright part of the faucet, and the protuberance 

 i66 



