AS a room, it will taken an earthquake, or a
gang of men, and in any case a certain amount
of time, to destroy it. As your subjective
state, the closing of your eyes, or any instantaneous
play of your fancy will suffice. IN the
real world, fire will consume it. IN your mind,
you can let fire play over it without effect. As
an outer object, you must pay so much a
month to inhabit it. As an inner content, you
may occupy it for any length of time rent-free.
If, in short, you follow it in the mental direction,
15
taking it along with events of personal
biography solely, all sorts of things are true
of it which are false, and false of it which are
true if you treat it as a real thing experienced,
follow it in the physical direction, and relate it
to associates in the outer world.
III
So far, all seems plain sailing, but my thesis
will probably grow less plausible to the reader
when I pass form percepts to concepts, or from
the case of things presented to that of things
remote. I believe, nevertheless, that here also
the same law holds good. If we take conceptual
manifolds, or memories, or fancies, they
also are in their first intention mere bits
of pure experience, and, as such, are single _thats_
which act in one context as objects, and in another
context figure as mental states.
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