ON THE REALITY OF THE SELF. 211 
question wholly out of court. And for this reason. The question 
“Where is a thing?” means—“ in what place” is it to be found ? 
That again means—‘“ what particular portion of space” does it 
occupy? But such a question can be answered only of the 
material. In fact, the one characteristic of matter as contrasted 
with spirit, or everything that is immaterial,—such as different 
kinds of forces,—is its occupancy of space. That is the most 
specific characteristic of all things belonging to the order of 
things which we call matter; and the fundamental law of all 
material things is that each material object or atom, at any one 
moment of time, occupies one particular portion of space, and is 
unable at the same time to occupy any other. So that every 
material object at any one time has one particular place. That is 
its “where,” or its position. You can ask the question ‘‘ Where is it?” 
and, pointing to the position in space where it is to be found— 
that precise portion of space which it occupies,—you may say in 
answer, “It is there.’ Further,as occupying a definite limited 
portion of space, it has a certain size, which in answer to the 
question, ‘‘ How much space does it occupy ? ” and a certain shape; 
which is an answer to the question, ‘‘ What is the geometrical 
character of its space-limit ?” But none of these questions, from 
the very nature of the case, can be put in reference to mind 
or things mental; because they are immaterial. You cannot 
assign to anything mental—say sensation, thought, or wish—any 
definite shape or size, so that you could say, “‘ taste is round,” and 
“sound is square,” nor can you say of any of them that they 
measure so many millimetres in length, and so on. And much 
less can you say any of these things of the mind itself. Shape 
and size it has none. But if so neither has it position; simply 
because, in its intrinsic nature, it has no space-relation whatever, 
and, therefore, there can be no space-relation between mind and 
body. We cannot then be too careful to avoid apparently 
materialising the mind while we are seeking to establish the fact 
that it is immaterial and spiritual. Those things which involve 
space-relation can only be said of its material organism, which is 
that particular parcel of matter with which we (i.e., each “mind ” 
or “‘self’’) are connected more closely than any other. As to the 
relation between the two, it is an old-standing puzzle which 
I suppose will never be solved. One expression, used by 
Dr. Courtney, I think, may be selected as on the whole the 
Q 
