Page:Mind (Old Series) Volume 12.djvu/528

 THE PHYSICAL CONDITIONS OF CONSCIOUSNESS. 515 ago with regard to the conditions of consciousness namely, that in order to have a consciousness of an idea it is necessary, not only that the idea should have a certain intensity, but that its energy should not be dis- charged entirely and instantly upon the organs of movement. What does the intensity of the idea in such case mean, but the intensity of the disintegration, which is Prof. Herzen's own alleged condition of the intensity of consciousness ? And as regards the third proposition, may not diversion of energy be one, if not a main, condition of a slow and difficult transmission through the nervous centres'? Be that as it may, however, he differs clearly in maintaining positively, as he does, that the conscious and the unconscious coexist everywhere and always, whatever the nervous centre in action, at one time the one predominating and at another time the other. Thus he attributes even to the spinal cord an elementary, impersonal, unintelligent consciousness which is at its maximum in the lower animals, at its minimum in the higher animals. Here, how- ever, it is not quite easy to follow his arguments, since his language does not seem to be always consistent ; while he declares plainly that conscious- ness exists always and everywhere ("le conscient et I'inconscient coexistent toujours et partout" he acknowledges that no appeal is made to the spinal consciousness (" il n'est point fait appel h, la conscience spinale ") in those acts that are performed automatically by the spinal cord. The conscious is there, but it is not appealed to : in other words, although the conscious always coexists with the unconscious, it exists sometimes in the form of the unconscious ! But if it is there and makes no sign, how can we know that it is there at all ? Are we not entitled to conclude in such case that ' de non apparentibus et de non existentibus eadem est ratio ' ? It is impossible, however, in a note to do justice to the facts and argu- ments by which Prof. Herzen elucidates and supports his theory. Any one who may read the foregoing paper would do well to study them for himself. So far as they are well-grounded they will serve to correct or confute the opinions which I have propounded, while these in their turn may serve perhaps to show forth the weak points of his theory. To me it seems that he has left a great deal of essential matter out of consideration, not having seemingly realised that there is a twofold synthesis or combina- tion to be taken account of in the physiology of our mental life first, the combination of elements to constitute nerve-substance, 011 which he does lay stress ; second, a combination or union of nervous plexuses to accomplish different functions their physiological catenation, so to speak, whereby the manifold morphological patterns are formed that become the nervous substrata of the various functions or faculties of mind, so building up the complex and intricate structure of the mental organisation.