The Intellect.
The class of mental states or processes grouped together under the name
of "intellectual processes," forms the second great division of the
mental states, the two others being "feeling" and "will," respectively.
"Intellect" has been defined as follows: "The part or faculty of the
human mind by which it knows, as distinguished from the power to feel
and to will; the thinking faculty; the understanding;" also as "that
faculty of the human mind by which it receives or comprehends the ideas
communicated to it by the senses or the perception, or other means, as
distinguished from the power to feel and to will; the power or faculty
to perceive objects in their relations; the power to judge and
comprehend; also the capacity for higher forms of knowledge, as
distinguished from the power to perceive and imagine."
In the preceding chapters we have seen that the individual is able to
experience sensations in consciousness, and that he is able to
_perceive_ them mentally, the latter being the first step in
intellectual activity. We have also seen that he is able to reproduce
the perception by means of memory and imagination, and that by means of
the latter he is able to re-combine and rearrange the objects of
perception. We have also seen that he has what are known as "feelings,"
which depend upon his previous experience and that of his progenitors.
So far the mind has been considered merely as a receiving and
reproducing instrument, with the added attachment of the re-combining
power of the imagination. Up to this point the mind may be compared to
the phonographic cylinder, with an attachment capable of re-combining
its recorded impressions. The impressions are received and perceived,
are stored away, are reproduced, and by the use of the imagination are
re-combined.
Up to this point the mind is seen to be more or less of an automatic,
instinctive faculty. It may be traced from the purely reflex activity of
the lowest forms of life up through the lower animals, step by step,
until a very high degree of mental power is perceived in animals like
the horse, dog, or elephant. But there is something lacking. There is
missing that peculiar power of thinking in symbols and abstract
conceptions which distinguishes the human race and which is closely
bound up with the faculty of language or expressing thoughts in words.
The comparatively high mental process of the lower animals is dwarfed
by the human faculty of "thinking." And _thinking_ is the manifestation
of the intellect.
What is it to _think_? Strange to say, very few persons can answer this
question correctly at first. They find themselves inclined to answer the
inquiry in the words of the child: "Why, to think is to _think_!" Let us
see if we can make it plain. The dictionary definition is a little too
technical to be of much use to the beginner, but here it is: "To employ
any of the intellectual powers except that of simple perception through
the senses." But what are the "intellectual powers" so employed, and how
are they employed? Let us see.
Stating the matter plainly in common terms, we may say that "thinking"
is the mental process of (1) comparing our perceptions of things with
each other, noting the points of likeness and of difference; (2)
classifying them according to the ascertained likeness or difference,
and thus tying them up in mental bundles with each set of "things of a
kind" in its own bundle; (3) forming the abstract, symbolic mental idea
(concept) of each class of things, so grouped, which we may afterward
use as we use figures in mathematical calculations; (4) using these
concepts in order to form _inferences_, that is, to reason from the
known to the unknown, and to form judgments regarding things; (5)
comparing these judgments and deducing higher judgments from them; and
so on.
Without thinking, man would be dependent upon each particular experience
for his knowledge, except so far as memory and imagination could
instinctively aid him. By thought processes he is enabled to infer that
if certain things be true of one of a certain kind of things, the same
thing may be expected from others of the same class. As he is able to
note points of likeness or difference, he is able to form clearer and
truer inferences. In addition, he is able to apply his constructive
imagination to the rearrangement and recombination of things whose
nature he has discovered, and thus progress along the line of material
achievement as well as of knowledge. It must be remembered, however,
that the intellect depends entirely for its material upon the
perception, which in turn receives its raw material from the senses. The
intellect merely groups together the material of perception, makes
inferences, draws conclusions from, and forms conclusions regarding,
them, and in the case of constructive imagination recombines them in
effective forms and arrangement. The intellect is the last in order in
the course of mental evolution. It appears last in order in the mind of
the child, but it often persists in old age after the feelings have
grown dim and the memory weak.
CONCEPTS.
What is known as the "concept" is the first fruit of the elemental
processes of thought. The various images of outside objects are sensed,
then perceived, and then grouped according to their likenesses and
differences, and the result is the production of concepts. It is
difficult to define a concept so as to convey any meaning to the
beginner. For instance, the dictionaries give the definition as "an
abstract, general conception, idea, or notion formed in the mind." Not
very clear this, is it? Perhaps we can understand it better if we say
that the terms dog, cat, man, horse, house, etc., each expresses a
concept. Every term expresses a concept; every general name of a thing
or quality is a term applied to the concept. We shall see this a little
clearer as we proceed.
We form a concept in this way: (1) We _perceive_ a number of things; (2)
then we notice certain _qualities_ possessed by things--certain
properties, attributes, or characteristics which make the thing what it
is; (3) then we _compare_ these qualities of the thing with the
qualities of other things and see that there is a likeness in some
cases, in various degrees, and a difference in other cases, in various
degrees; (4) then we _generalize_ or _classify_ the perceived things
according to their ascertained likenesses and differences; (5) then we
form a _general idea_ or _concept_ embodying each class of thing; and,
finally, we give to the concept a _term_, or _name_, which is its
symbol.
The concept is a _general idea_ of a class of things; the _term_ is the
expression of that general idea. The concept is the idea of a class of
things; the term is the _label_ affixed to the thing. To illustrate this
last distinction, let us take the concept and term of "bird," for
instance. By perception, comparison, and classification of the qualities
of living things we have arrived at the conclusion that there exists a
great general class the qualities of which may be stated thus:
"Warm-blooded, feathered, winged, oviparous, vertebrate." To this
general class of quality-possessing animals we apply the English term
"bird." The name is merely a symbol. In German the term is _vogel_; in
Latin, _avis_; but in each and every case the _general idea_ or
_concept_ above stated, _i.e._, "warm-blooded, feathered, winged,
oviparous, vertebrate," is meant. If anything is found having all of
those particular qualities, then we know it must be what we call a
"bird." And everything that we call a "bird" must have those qualities.
The term "bird" is the symbol for that particular combination of
qualities existing in a thing.
There is a difference between a mental image of the imagination and a
concept. The mental image must always be of a _particular_ thing, while
the concept is always an idea of a _general class_ of things which
cannot be clearly pictured in the mind. For instance, the imagination
may form the mental picture of any known bird, or even of an imaginary
bird, but that bird always will be a distinct, _particular_ bird. Try to
form a mental picture of the general class of birds--how will you do it?
Do you realize the difficulty? First, such an image would have to
include the characteristics of the large birds, such as the eagle,
ostrich, and condor; and of the small birds, such as the wren and
humming bird. It must be a composite of the shape of all birds, from the
ostrich, swan, eagle, crane, down to the sparrow, swallow, and humming
bird. It must picture the particular qualities of birds of prey, water
birds, and domestic fowls, as well as the grain eaters. It must exhibit
all the colors found in bird life, from the brightest reds and greens
down to the sober grays and browns. A little thought will show that a
clear mental image of such a concept is impossible. What the most of us
do, when we think of "bird," is to picture a vague, flying shape of dull
color; but when we stop to think that the term must also include the
waddling duck and the scratching barnyard chicken, we see that our
mental image is faulty. The trouble is that the term "bird" really means
"all-bird," and we cannot picture an "all-bird" from the very nature of
the case. Our terms, therefore, are like mathematical figures, or
algebraic symbols, which we use for ease, speed, and clearness of
thinking.
The trouble does not end here. Concepts not only include the general
idea of _things_, but also the general idea of the _qualities of
things_. Thus sweetness, hardness, courage, and energy are concepts, but
we cannot form a mental image of them by themselves. We may picture a
sweet _thing_, but not sweetness itself. So you see that a concept is a
purely abstract mental idea--a symbol--akin to the figures 1, 2, 3,
etc., and used in the same way. They _stand_ for general classes of
things. A "term" is the verbal and written expression of the general
idea or concept. The student is requested to fix these distinctions in
his mind, so as to render further understanding of them easy.