"The Analysis Of Mind " - читать интересную книгу автора (Russell Bertrand)

There are a few allusions to China in this book, all of which
were written before I had been in China, and are not intended to
be taken by the reader as geographically accurate. I have used
"China" merely as a synonym for "a distant country," when I
wanted illustrations of unfamiliar things.

Peking, January 1921.



CONTENTS

I. Recent Criticisms of "Consciousness" II. Instinct and Habit
III. Desire and Feeling IV. Influence of Past History on Present
Occurrences in Living Organisms V. Psychological and
Physical Causal Laws VI. Introspection VII. The Definition of
Perception VIII.Sensations and Images IX. Memory X. Words and
Meaning XI. General Ideas and Thought XII. Belief XIII.Truth and
Falsehood XIV. Emotions and Will XV. Characteristics of Mental
Phenomena



THE ANALYSIS OF MIND


LECTURE I. RECENT CRITICISMS OF "CONSCIOUSNESS"

There are certain occurrences which we are in the habit of
calling "mental." Among these we may take as typical BELIEVING
and DESIRING. The exact definition of the word "mental" will, I
hope, emerge as the lectures proceed; for the present, I shall
mean by it whatever occurrences would commonly be called mental.

I wish in these lectures to analyse as fully as I can what it is
that really takes place when we, e.g. believe or desire. In this
first lecture I shall be concerned to refute a theory which is
widely held, and which I formerly held myself: the theory that
the essence of everything mental is a certain quite peculiar
something called "consciousness," conceived either as a relation
to objects, or as a pervading quality of psychical phenomena.

The reasons which I shall give against this theory will be mainly
derived from previous authors. There are two sorts of reasons,
which will divide my lecture into two parts

(1) Direct reasons, derived from analysis and its difficulties;

(2) Indirect reasons, derived from observation of animals
(comparative psychology) and of the insane and hysterical