Page:The Distinction between Mind and Its Objects.djvu/20

 objects, we must start from the simple case of any two bodies being together in space, like a table and the floor. This is the fundamental relation at the root of knowledge and perception as of all the order of the world. And, in fact, unconscious objects, so far as in this relation, I think the theory would say, do in principle know each other, though as they possess no conscious selves their knowledge is at a vanishing point. But among these existents which are so together, there are some which are minds, that is, bodies which have acquired the capacity of consciousness. When these are together with other existent things, within the range of reaction through the senses, the conscious thing is aware of being together with the other thing, in the various degrees of sensation, perception, and thought or knowledge. This is nothing more than the amplification or development through consciousness of the fundamental fact which consists in two existents being together in space. My mind is here, in my body; the table is there. My