INTRO D UCTOR Y 9

psychical modification of the subject, i.e., of him who perceives

and (2) the external or " objective " constituent that (of

whatever it may consist and whatever be its cause) which is

the object cognized or perceived in the psychical act of

cognition or perception on the part of the subject Again,

in every act of intellectual cognition or perception, there are

also two elements (i) the sensational and (2) the intellectual.

In the earliest stages of mental life, psychical action

though no doubt partly excited by internal feelings (that is,

by feelings due to physical changes in the internal bodily

organs) is mainly roused to activity, as before said, by the

action of external bodies upon the infant's organs of sense

and, through them, upon its central and supreme nervous

organ, its brain. Numerous feelings are thus aroused and

subsequently experienced again and again in various com-

binations of co-existence and sequence of feelings thus

excited by external objects. These experiences lay the

foundation for subsequent minute brain modifications, the

accompaniment of which are what we call " mental images,"

" imaginations," or " phantasmata." Such mental phenomena

are internal feelings, and resemble, more or less closely, the

feelings previously excited by external objects.

Without the aid of such mental images, or imaginations,

it is impossible for us to think at all, while it is impossible

for us to imagine aught save things which our senses have

previously experienced, either entire or in their constituent

parts. Our sense-impressions can, as it seems to us, alone

furnish a basis and support on which the intellect may

build and act, and it can build nothing except upon a

foundation of sense -impressions, nor can it take a step

without the aid of the imagination. Thus sensations and

subsequent mental images are both the necessary antecedents

and also the indispensable accompaniments of all our ideas,

however abstract or refined.

psychical modification of the subject, i.e., of him who perceives

and (2) the external or " objective " constituent that (of

whatever it may consist and whatever be its cause) which is

the object cognized or perceived in the psychical act of

cognition or perception on the part of the subject Again,

in every act of intellectual cognition or perception, there are

also two elements (i) the sensational and (2) the intellectual.

In the earliest stages of mental life, psychical action

though no doubt partly excited by internal feelings (that is,

by feelings due to physical changes in the internal bodily

organs) is mainly roused to activity, as before said, by the

action of external bodies upon the infant's organs of sense

and, through them, upon its central and supreme nervous

organ, its brain. Numerous feelings are thus aroused and

subsequently experienced again and again in various com-

binations of co-existence and sequence of feelings thus

excited by external objects. These experiences lay the

foundation for subsequent minute brain modifications, the

accompaniment of which are what we call " mental images,"

" imaginations," or " phantasmata." Such mental phenomena

are internal feelings, and resemble, more or less closely, the

feelings previously excited by external objects.

Without the aid of such mental images, or imaginations,

it is impossible for us to think at all, while it is impossible

for us to imagine aught save things which our senses have

previously experienced, either entire or in their constituent

parts. Our sense-impressions can, as it seems to us, alone

furnish a basis and support on which the intellect may

build and act, and it can build nothing except upon a

foundation of sense -impressions, nor can it take a step

without the aid of the imagination. Thus sensations and

subsequent mental images are both the necessary antecedents

and also the indispensable accompaniments of all our ideas,

however abstract or refined.