OF THE PRIMARY FACULTIES or THE MIND.
4. That, whatever it be, which thinks, and feels, and wills, is called mind : that part of the human- being which thinks, and feels, and wills, is called the human mind.
5. We observe without us and within us numerous phenomena ; the object of philosophy is to deduce from them certain general laws, agreeable to which they are produced, and then to employ those laws in the explanation of other phenomena. Mental philosophy pursues the same me thod which has been so successfully adopted in natural philosophy ; and as in physics simfiar phenomena are referred to the operation of some one cause or power, so in mental science those phenomena, which have all one common feature, are referred to some faculty or property of' the mind, by whose operation these phe nomena are supposed to be produced. What those mental or physical powers are, philosophy does not profess to ex plain.
6. If we hold a luminous body before the eye, it produces some change in the state of that organ, and this produces in the mind a feeling ; this feeling is called a sensation. This name is also given to all those other feelings which are produc ed in a similar way, wiz. owing to a change in the organs of sense, whatever be the cause by which the change is produced. The general fact or law is, that sensations are produced by what affects the organs of sense. Now to account for this fact, we infer that the mind is possessed of a power or capacity which we call sensation, or, better to avoid ambiguity, the sensitive power. This then is that power or capa city of the mind by whose operation it re ceives sensations from things which affect the organs of sense.
7. We know as a matter of fact, that though sensations cease soon after the ex citing object is withdrawn, yet if they have been produced sufficiently often and vividly, the causes of feelings similar in kind remain in the mind, and those similar feelings can recur when no change is pro duced in the organs of sense. These are called ideas : they are the relicts of sen sations.—Such is the general law or fact. The operation or ad of retaining relicts of sensations, may, with the strictest pro• priety, be termed retention ; and to ac count for it, we infer that the mind pos sesses a power or capacity, which we may call the retentive power. This then is
that power or capacity of the mind, by which it retains relicts of sensations.
8. Again ; it is an indisputable fact, that these ideas nr relicts of sensations, do not remain single in the mind, but become connected with one another, so that the recurrence of one, or of its corresponding sensation, will bring on another ; and that in certain cases, they become so blended together, that the parts can scarcely be distinguished. Thus the word orange, either pronounced or thought of, will bring the idea of the appearance of an orange. Again, the idea of the word house is accompanied by a certain feeling, which is altogether different from that which accompanies the idea of the word ship : if we think about it a little, we usually have the idea of a particular house recall ed; this is a simple idea (or idea of sen sation or conception) connected with other ideas, but not combined with them : but, in general, if the word occurs without the mind dwelling upon it, we may perceive an indistinct feeling, which is composed of a variety of simple ideas, received from a variety of those objects to which we give the name house. That the feeling is thus composed we have a full right to assert, on an attentive consideration of the custo mary processes of the mind.—Simple ideas may then be connected with other ideas ; or they may blend and coalesce with other ideas, so as to firm new ones, which are called compound or complex ideas. The general fact is, that connexions and com positions take place among our ideas ; and when thus connected or compounded, We say that they are associated together, and the connected or compounded group we call an association. To account for the fbrmation of associations, we infer that the mind possesses a power or capacity of connecting or combining ideas, which may be called the associative power. This then is that power or capacity of the mind by which it connects and compounds ideas.