Page:Ferrier's Works Volume 3 "Philosophical Remains" (1883 ed.).djvu/149

Rh spite of our thoughts. Let us turn from the universe, then, and look to ourselves, "I." Now here is an instance in which there is no distinction or sundering between the notion and the reality. The two are coincident and identical, or rather, we should say, the one (that is, the notion "I ") creates and enforces the other (that is, the reality "I "); or, at any rate, this appears to be the best way of logically exhibiting the two. Between the notion and the reality in this case scepticism can find no conceivable entrance for the minutest point of its spear. Let any man consult his own experience whether, the notion "I" being given, the reality "I" must not also necessarily be present; and also whether, the reality being present, the notion must not also accompany it. Let him try to destroy or maintain the one without also destroying or maintaining the other, and see whether he can succeed. Succeed he easily may in the case of any other notion and reality. The word mountain, for instance, denotes both a notion and a reality. But the notion may exist perfectly well without the reality, and the reality without the notion. The notion "I," however, cannot exist without the reality "I," and the reality cannot exist without the notion I," as any one may satisfy himself by the slightest reflection.

Here, then, we have found the instance we were seeking for. What is the notion "I"? It is consciousness or the notion of self. What is the reality "I"? It is simply "I." Connect the two together