Page:Ferrier's Works Volume 3 "Philosophical Remains" (1883 ed.).djvu/185

Rh, no act of any kind, is involved in sensation; therefore man might continue to undergo sensations until doomsday without ever becoming "I," and without ever perceiving an external universe.

How then does man become "I"? how does he become percipient of an external universe? We answer, Not through sensation, but by and through an act of discrimination, or virtual negation. This negation is not, and need not be, expressed in words. It is a silent but deep deed, making each man an individual person; and it is enough if the reality of it be present, even although the expression and distinct conception of it should be absent. But if the reality were actually absent, then there would be a difference indeed. If "no," in thought and in deed, were taken out of the world, man would never become "I," and, for him, the external universe would remain a nonentity. Sensation, passion, &c., would continue as strong and violent as ever, but consciousness would depart; man and nature, "I" and "not I,"