Charles Carroll Everett

“ When, however, we remember that the I is the absolute determining power, that there is nothing within the bounds of its knowledge that does not exist for it, that the material world exists for it and only in its consciousness, and that from this world of consciousness there is no escape, we see that the dilemma which we have been contemplating can be determined in only one way. We see that the I stands in relation only with itself, and is one with itself. ”

“ The reason demands limit, in order that the universe may be a whole, and thus of such a nature that it can conform to its ideal. The understanding, on the other hand, regards the universe as endless, as by no possibility forming a whole, and thus as by no possibility embodying an ideal. In the one case, the universe is infinite; in the other, the I is infinite. ”

“ The antithesis which has followed us thus far assumes, then, this form, that if the one is infinite, the other is finite, and the reverse.
This antithesis is, according to Fichte, the source of the antinomies of Kant. [9] These antinomies represent the strife between the reason and the understanding. The world of the understanding is, in one aspect, too large for the reason, and that of the reason too small for the understanding. In other words, the reason represents the I as laying down the law for the universe. The understanding recognizes the universe as rebelling against this law. ”

“ This power of blending A and —A in a relationship in which each is determined by the other, and in which the nature of the relation depends upon the fact that one has been selected to be thought, and the other, by abstraction, left as merely thinkable, is called the power of judgment. In other words, an act of judgment always implies a selection—something is affirmed over against something that is denied. Both that which is affirmed and that which is denied are by the very act of affirmation and denial seen in relation to one another. ”

“ Since consciousness is one, all the elements that enter into it must be united by mutual determination; otherwise diversity and discord would be introduced, and the unity of consciousness destroyed. The elements that thus enter into consciousness are the subject and the object, each with its double activity. ”

“ I. PERCEPTION. The materials that we have for developing the special elements of consciousness are the same that we have found at every stage of our discussion. We have the pure activity of the I pressing forth into the infinite. ”

“ Why do they not flow together and become one movement? Let us illustrate the matter in a still more materialistic manner. Suppose that we have two streams of water flowing in the same channel and in the same direction, how will it be possible to discover that we have two currents instead of one, and to distinguish which belongs to each? Let us suppose that one of the currents becomes frozen as soon as it reaches our point of observation, and is carried forward as ice. ”

“ The perceiver determines himself to think an object. So far as the object is determined through this act of thinking, is the object thought. [7]
We have seen that the object is, by this process of thought, regarded as having a relation to itself; that is, as being a distinct object conforming to the formula, A = A. It thus determines itself to its relation to the subject. It is thus regarded as giving rise to an activity which affects the subject. If there were no passivity in the perceiver, we should have no right to assume the unity of the object, and the activity that proceeds from it ”

“ It remains to make a more special analysis of the elements and processes that go to make up the concrete states of consciousness, It is important, before entering upon this discussion, to understand precisely what is attempted, and the method by which the results are to be brought about.
Consciousness is taken as a fact. This is given to us by experience. We cannot deduce the fact of consciousness. As Fichte repeatedly says, the impinging upon a limit which makes consciousness possible is something that could not have been foreseen. ”

“ All the elements contained in consciousness are the various forms of the activity of the I. The system is so far purely idealistic, the only hint of realism being the obstruction at C, which forms, as we have already seen, a vanishing factor in the history of the I. We see also, already, how the idea of the Not-me can have arisen in the mind, the returning activity, c, being mistaken for a foreign presence. ”

“ It is here that consciousness begins. The I is unconscious of c, for this movement has taken place simply as a recoil from the obstruction at C. On the other hand, c2 is the voluntary act of the I, and is, therefore, present to consciousness. Through it, c will become present to consciousness, but not as if it formed a part of the I. The movement of c is in the direction from externality. ”

“ So Fichte, starting with consciousness as given, seeks to show the process and the powers by which it is produced. He is sure that the content of consciousness is not given by anything outside the mind. He is justified, then, in assuming within the mind anything that is needed to produce consciousness, and to give to it its content. ”

“ We shall not attempt to show the necessity of these assumptions by any deductive process, based upon the nature of the soul or any fundamental idea. We recognize the fact of consciousness, and ask how we can suppose it to have been produced. ”

“ An animal is found possessing a certain organ; how is this organ produced? Objectors point to the intricate structure, and challenge the naturalist to show how it could possibly be produced by the process of natural selection. ”

“ We may illustrate this principle still further, by the statement of Herbert Spencer, at the close of his First Principles, which has already been referred to in another connection: “Manifestly,” he says, “the establishment of correlation and equivalence between the forces of the outer and the inner worlds, may be used to assimilate either to the other, according as we set out with one or other term.” ”

“ The process begins with the child, who for the first time leaves his cradle, and thereby learns that the cradle is not a part of himself; and the process continues till we reach the position of the transcendental philosopher, who at last faces the problem of thinking the pure self. ”