Page:Mind (Old Series) Volume 9.djvu/537

 A CLASSIFICATION OF FEELINGS, II. 525 extends to a large proportion of activities the individual is said to be blase. TABLE VII. CLASS I. Sub-class II. : Self-conservative Emotions, Organisnially-initiated. Genus 4 : Feelings corresponding with the relation of Activity to Outlet. Feelings of Content and Discontent. in the case of a single activity. Desire. fi Activity exceeds Outlet ^ in the caae f m? activities Ennui. j and the disproportion is pro- ^ longed. Discontent. Outlet is proportional to ( in the case of a sin le activity. Satisfaction. li Activity i n the e^g o f ma ny activities. Contentment. ivity has found Out- ( in the ca- 36 of a sin le activity. Satiety. let in excess j n th e case o f ma nv activities. Blasfaess. The next genus of feelings corresponds with a relation of rather more specialised character. The outlet of an activity has been denned as the whole group of environmental con- ditions that are necessary for its fulfilment; and the feelings of the previous genus depended on the presence or absence of these conditions as a whole, and on the degree in which they as a whole were present. The feelings now under con- sideration depend on the relation which the activity of the organism bears, not to the conditions as a whole, but to a specialised part of them. When the main bulk of the condi- tions necessary for the exercise of any activity are cognised as existing in the environment, but a single one, or a small pro- portion of them, is wanting, the activity cannot, it is evident, be exercised, and the corresponding feeling of the previous genus will come into existence. But in addition to this feeling a somewhat more specialised feeling will arise, cor- responding with the somewhat more special relation that is cognised. The absence of the condition or group of condi- tions is termed an obstacle; or if, as is common, the absence of the wanting condition is less prominent than the presence of some other condition to which the absence of the first is attributed, then the condition that is present is called the obstacle. In this, as in the last, case the feeling corre- sponds with the relation between two independent variables, and, as in that case, although the number of possible rela- tions is infinitely great, yet they may be for our purposes arranged in a few groups each of which shades off on either 36