THE MIND AND SOME OF ITS FACULTIES.
We know there is something we call mind, because we know something of its
way of working, or its faculties. What mind is we do not know, but we know
it is not matter, because matter is something that occupies space, and has
qualities that do not belong to mind. We say of mind, it reasons,
remembers, or wills; of matter, that it is hard or soft, or cold or
elastic, or that it has color; speaking always of the faculties of mind or
what it does, and of the qualities of matter, or what it is. We do not
know what matter is, only how it appears to us; we know it is not mind
because mind is something spiritual, and possessed of faculties or powers
that do not belong to matter.
_Mind and Matter_ are the only forms of existence of which we have any
knowledge.
We speak of matter as inorganic--that is, without life, as iron, water,
oxygen; and as organic, or matter plus something we call life. Life
appears in two forms, namely, vegetable and animal. The lowest forms of
animal life have no nervous system, but as we ascend in the scale the
nervous system appears, and becomes more and more complete.
Man possesses the most perfect nervous system, has the most perfect
brain, and also an intelligence far above that of any other animal, and is
endowed with some mental faculties that belong to him alone. The brain may
be said to be the organ of the mind, but we do not know what is the true
relation between them; that is, how the brain is acted upon by the mind,
or how the action of the mind affects the brain. Brain is matter, and very
solid matter as well, mind is immaterial, or spiritual, and the exact
connection between something material and something spiritual has never
been made out and never will be.
Some say the brain makes mind a good deal as liver makes bile, or the
glands of the mouth make saliva, or the cells of the brain make motor
impulses, and if the brain does not act there is no mind made; so much
cell action, so much memory, reason, or will produced. But how, it is
immediately asked, is something material to make something immaterial?
Others say that mind is something, and has an existence of its own, and,
though spiritual, acts upon its organ, the brain, and by so doing, we are
conscious that we see, reason, remember, and will. But how, it is
immediately asked, does something immaterial act upon something material?
We do not know, and we probably never shall know. This intimate connection
between mind and matter exists during life only; it begins with life and
ends with life.
We must then come back to the starting-point--there are two forms of
existence, mind and matter. We do not know what either really is, but only
the faculties or working of our minds, and the qualities or appearance of
matter.
Mind thinks or remembers, reasons or wills, but these are faculties of the
mind; it is what the mind does, not mind itself. Gold is yellow, but
yellow is not gold; gold is hard, but hardness is not gold; these are
qualities of gold, and not gold itself.
In the study of physiology you found the body divided into many parts, and
that these parts had each a separate function or duty to perform. In the
study of the mind, we find it has many different faculties or ways of
working. We did not study all the functions of the body, so we will not
study all the faculties of the mind.
The mind is very complicated in its action, and difficult to understand.
Men study it all their lives and are not agreed about some of its simple
manifestations, and argue and even contend about their differences. There
are, however, some seemingly natural divisions of the faculties of the
mind, and a knowledge of these is sufficient for our purposes.
We may say of the mind that it possesses:
_a._ Intellectual faculties.
_b._ Will.
_c._ Emotions or feelings.
_d._ Instincts.
_e._ Moral faculties or conscience.
The first three are commonly given as divisions of the mind; the last two
are included for convenience of teaching.
_The Intellectual Faculties_ include those powers which in common language
are called "mind." A few only will be considered--namely, the perceptive
faculty, consciousness, memory, and reason.
_The Perceptive Faculty_ is the power of the mind to perceive or know the
sensations brought to the brain by the sensory nerves, from the organs of
sense, and the action of this faculty gives us a knowledge of the
existence and qualities of matter.
_Consciousness_ is that faculty by which we know we perceive, reason,
remember, will, or possess emotions. By its operation we know that we
exist, have a mind, and what that mind does.
_Memory_ is that faculty by which we are able to recall to consciousness
the knowledge we possess of past events.
_Reason_ is that faculty by which we are able to make use of what we know
and to acquire new knowledge. For instance, I know the distance between
two places is sixty miles, and I know that the cars, going between the
places, travel at the rate of twenty miles an hour, and that they leave at
four o'clock. Without reason, I could never of myself, know the two new
facts, that it would require three hours to make the journey, and that the
arrival will be at seven o'clock. The faculty of reason is one of the most
distinctive of the human mind.
_The Will._--In consequence of our perceptions, our consciousness, our
memory, our reason, we are in a condition to know a good deal of what is
about us, and of ourselves, and we desire to bring ourselves into relation
with the outside world, and therefore we act. There is a faculty of mind
that allows us to choose how to act, and this is called the will, or that
faculty of the mind "by which we are capable of choosing." By the action
of the will, we direct and control the voluntary muscles and motions of
the body, while the action of the mind is also largely under its control.
It may truly be said that unless we are under the compulsion of some
physical force, we always choose to do whatever we most wish to do. This
liberty of choosing is called "freedom of the will," and because we are
free to choose, we are responsible for the consequences of our choice. We
say, in common language, a person is responsible for what he does, and
both human and divine law holds each to a strict accountability for his
conduct, because all are free to choose how they will conduct themselves.
_The Emotions or Feelings._--The emotions are joy, love, grief, hatred,
anger, jealousy, and other like conditions, and we speak of them as
"natural," because they appear without the operation of our intellect or
will, and the capacity for them seems to be a part of our existence. They
should, however, be under the control of reason and will, and a person who
gives way to his feelings, as of jealousy, and murders, is held
responsible by human and divine law. But though we control them, we cannot
prevent their action, and we must, as long as we live, feel love and joy,
be affected by grief, suffer from anger, or be jealous.
_Instincts._--These belong largely to our animal nature; our appetites and
desires are instincts, and we speak of them as "natural." Children want
food and drink before they know what it is they want, and birds in the
nest, open their little mouths for the worm their mother brings them.
Appetites indulged in become strong, and are often uncontrolled by the
reason and will; as the indulged appetite for liquor. A strong and healthy
mind should control the appetites, as we have learned it should control
the emotions, and we are justly held responsible for the consequences of
an indulged appetite.
_Moral Faculties._--There exists in the mind of man a knowledge of right
and wrong, and a feeling of obligation to respect the rights of others. We
can hardly conceive of a man in his right mind who does not know it is
wrong to lie, or steal, or murder. The capacity to know right from wrong
is called conscience.
Most people, perhaps all, have a feeling of relation and obligation to a
higher moral being than man. The feeling to do right because it is
pleasing to a God to whom we are directly responsible, is the foundation
of our religious convictions.
The mind is a most complex affair, it is always active, nor is one faculty
at work and the rest idle, but many parts are at work at the same time,
and act and react upon each other. We may exercise our perceptive faculty,
or reason, memory, and will, and be affected by our feelings at the same
time. There is with it all a regulating power that coordinates or brings
these different actions into harmony, and we get the working of a healthy
mind.