32 The Spiritual Life.
could answer these questions effectivelywould
do a far greater service to many than one
who IS only reiterating constantly the abstract
desirabihtyof ideals that we allacknowledge,
and the Imperative nature of obligations that
wealladmit-and disregard. Themachineis
here, not whollyill-made; whocan place his
fingeronthelever,andmakeitgo?
Thefirstquestion mustbeansweredbysuch
ananalysisof self-consciousness asmayexplain
this puzzling duality, the not desiring that
which we yet see to be desirable. We are
wont to say that self-consciousness is a unit,
and yet, when weturn our attentioninwards,
weseeabewildering multiplicityof "I's,"and
arestunnedbytheclamourof opposingvoices,
all coming apparently from ourselves. Now
consciousness-and self-consciousness is only
consciousnessdrawnintoadefinitecentrewhich
receives and sends out-is a unit, and if it
appears in the outer world as many, it is not
becauseithaslost its unity,but becauseitpre-
sentsItself therethroughdifferent media. We
speak glibly of the vehicles of consciousness,
butperhaps do not always bearinmindwhat
is implied in the phrase. If a current from a
galvanic battery be led through a series of
severaldifferent materials,its appearanceinthe