Owen-—Relations Expressed by the Passive Voice. 145 
The like however may he argued also of, for instance, the 
conception of a fourth dimension. Though underivable from 
the external universe, we “make up” such ideas—“out of our 
own heads.” I am not, therefore, ready to contend that we 
can not develop the idea of “being-done” distinct from “doing, v 
I merely raise accordingly the question: Do we ? 
In answering I recognize that, under all the strain imposed— 
as I have sought to indicate—by picturing a Worse than topsy- 
turvey world, my little mental strength may not forsake me; 
yet I don’t believe in tempting Providence. Even if, when¬ 
ever I use the passive voice, I can imagine the impossible, I 
shall not do so till I have to. In the meantime I am very sure 
1 don’t, and rather sure that others don’t. 
It is true that customary facile talk of “being-done” as dif¬ 
ferent from “doing” indicates a mental differentiation of the 
two. This differentiation is however, as I sought to show, so 
vague that we might better say we think we have effected it, 
than we have actually effected it. On the other hand we may 
do what in its results so much resembles such a differentiation 
as to take its place, and be mistaken for it. Eor, although the 
course of motion always lies perforce from its beginning to its 
end, and never from its end to its beginning; and although in 
language practice it be not conceived per se except in that di¬ 
rection; it still is possible, and even easy, for the mind to 
choose its view-point either at the head of the motion-stream 
or at its foot—the latter view-point offering a different view. 
In the former station, looking down the stream, I sense the 
flow as from me. In the latter, looking up the stream, I sense 
the flow" as toward me. In both these cases my idea of flowing 
takes in self, is relative to self, subjective, ego-centric. I no 
longer sense the flow per se alone, but also certainly per me. 
The question still remains however whether in fact we do so 
shift the mental view-point in the passive form of thinking. 
In offering an illustration to assist the answering of this 
question, I make use of “come” and “go,” intending them to 
indicate a single motion, fixed in absolute direction, but ob- 
