The groundwork of psychology / by G.F. Stout.

  • George Frederick Stout
Date:
1903
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: The groundwork of psychology / by G.F. Stout. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    tially unsatisfied, but not even advancing towards full sat- isfaction. We may feel a keen appetite for food, when no food is accessible; we may long after something which is entirely beyond reach, such as the undoing of a past action. The conative side of our nature is the active side. What- ever takes place or fails to take place in consequence of the intrinsic tendency of conative consciousness to find its own fulfilment is said to be pro tanto due to our activity. Successful activity is the self-fulfilment of conscious en- deavour or purpose. It is important to distinguish between the Satisfaction of conation and its Object. The Object of conative consciousness is constituted by the conditions of satisfaction as they appear to the subject in advance of their actual occurrence. This previous view of the conditions of satisfaction may be frag- mentary and indefinite in varying degrees. It may be, in varying degrees, true or illusory. Without some antici- pative cognisance of what we want there would be no cona-' tion in the proper sense, but at the most mere restlessness. But the anticipation may be of the vaguest kind. What is essential is that there should be some clue, however slight, so that our striving consciousness may not be absolutely blind and undirected. Take the case of wanting to know something. If we start with a definite question, we antici- pate a correspondingly definite answer. But of course we do not know beforehand precisely what the answer is going to be. Otherwise we should not be seriously asking the question. To this extent, what we want is indefinitely apprehended by us. But in some cases there is not even a formal question. There is a vague awareness of igno- rance or of confusion hard to formulate in any distinct way. We are puzzled but cannot lay our finger on the difficulty. It often happens in such cases, that a wrong question is
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