40 JOURNAL AND PROCEEDINGS. 



the oft mistaken judgments formed of the actions of our fellow- 

 men. 



Again, science finds man to be a self-conscious being ; that is, 

 he is not only conscious, but he knows it; he is conscious of 

 possessing certain faculties, and can compare them and ascertain 

 their relative importance with one another, or with those of others, 

 and discover whether they are greater or less than these ; he 

 reasons, and he reflects on his reasoning : he acts, or he refrains 

 from acting, and is quite conscious that he is doing so. Yet science 

 cannot prove the existence of this self-consciousness by any of its 

 methods ; its existence is its own demonstration, which each indi- 

 vidual has the most convincing proof of in his Own consciousness ; 

 but of its existence in others he can obtain a knowledge only by 

 his communication with them. Human consciousness is divided 

 into the universal and the individual, or that which has been 

 discovered to belong to the race, and that which has been found 

 to be restricted to individuals of it. A very slight glance around is 

 sufficient to demonstrate that the race is not equally endowed ; that 

 although the race has all the faculties that belong to it, these are 

 possessed in very diiferent degrees by different individuals of it. 

 In some a faculty may seem scarcely to exist at all, whilst in others 

 it may be developed to such a degree that they may find them- 

 selves separated from their fellows by it, few if any being able to 

 sympathize with them in it. 



Self-consciousness is closely related to experience. Experience 

 extends knowledge. The individual is conscious of the impression 

 produced, and retains the knowledge obtained for his own advant- 

 age. Now, as each individual has an experience differing in some 

 respects from all his fellows, arising from the circumstances of his 

 life, such as the time and place in which he was born, the character 

 of his parents, and his immediate associates, his position in the 

 community and the advantages or disadvantages arising therefrom, 

 his wider or narrower horizon of observation will to some extent 

 mould his individuality and give to each a different view of life from 

 the others, which, if communicated to them, might add much to 

 the sum total of the profitable knowledge of the race. 



Consciousness is that which gives unity to the individual life, 

 through all the changes of time, scene and circumstances to which 

 it may be subjected. Science can demonstrate that there is not a 



