The diseases of the will / by Th. Ribot.

  • Théodule-Armand Ribot
Date:
1903
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: The diseases of the will / by Th. Ribot. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    beyond the first period, for it denotes a commencement of individuality. On the common ground of the spe- cific activity, the desires outline vaguely the individual character ; they reflect the mode of reaction of a par- ticular organism. As soon as a sufficient accumulation of experiences has permitted intellect to arise, there is produced a new form of activity, for which the epithet of ideo- motor is most convenient, ideas being causes of move- ments. That name has, moreover, the advantage of showing its relationship with reflexes, of which it is only an improvement. How can an idea produce movement? That is a question which very much embarrassed the old psy- chology, but which becomes simple when the facts are considered in their true nature. It is a truth now ac- cepted in cerebral physiology that the anatomical basis of all our mental states includes both motor and sen- sory elements. I will not dwell upon a question which has been treated elsewhere in detail* and would neces- sitate a digression. Let us simply remember that our perceptions, in particular the important ones, those of sight and touch, imply as integral elements movements of the eye or the members ; and that if movement is an essential element when we see an object really, it must play the same role when we see it ideally. Images and ideas, even abstract, suppose an anatomical sub- stratum in which the movements are in some measure represented. It is true that, on pressing the point more closely, it might be said that it is necessary to distinguish two kinds of motor elements: those which serve to consti- tute a state of consciousness, and those which serve to * Revue philosophiq-ue, October, 1879, p. 371, et seq.
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