Freedom and Purpose (Volume 1, No. 3); An Interpretation of the Psychology of Spinoza (Paperback)

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated.1916 Excerpt: ... CHAPTER V THE REALIZATION OF SELF 2. The Mode Of Development The dialectic of self-realization may be said to have three phases, the first psychological, the development of man as a separate self; the second ethical, his contact with other selves; the last religious, his relations to the universal idea of nature. These three phases are not mutually exclusive. Type of civilization, immediate environment, physical capacity, peculiar genius may strangely mingle and confuse the several forms of mental life; but whether mingled or consecutive we shall not mistake in marking them as Spinoza's landing-places in the progressive attainment of selfhood. I The initial duty of the conscious self is to study the meaning of the body's reactions, with a view to making them serve the self's best interests.1 The meaning of every reaction, as we have noted, is gauged in part by the nature of the stimulating object; but only in part, inasmuch as no single image can carry a complete summary of the parts and relations of the object mirrored.2 We must effect a comparison of several reactions either to the same or related stimuli. The rudimentary act which awoke the consciousness of self is thus the prototype of the settled practice of reflection. Each sensation must be carefully examined for its general properties.3 Why did this impulse suddenly function, what was the nature of the stimulating cause, under what circumstances will a given stimulus provoke its response, --these and similar questions are the burden of study. Just as soon as we embark on this process we begin to gain "adequate ideas," we begin to understand.4 By the same operation, too, we 'IV, S3, Dem. 'V.4. II, 25; cf. IV, 5. 4IV, 23. enter upon a new level of freedom. When intelligence first wrought its impression...