The World as Percept 59of thing. Even what we call an object is nothing but than a
group of percepts connected in a certain way. If I take
away from a table its form, extension, color, and so
forth—in fact, everything that is only my percept—then
nothing more is left. This view, followed through logical-
ly, thus leads to the assertion that the objects of my percep-
tion are only present through me; they disappear with my
perceiving and have no meaning without it. Apart from
my percepts, I know of no objects and can know of none.
There is nothing to object to in this claim, as long as it
remains merely a general consideration of how the per-
cept is partly determined by the organization of the sub-
ject. The matter would appear fundamentally different,
however, if we were in a position to describe the exact
function of our perceiving in the origin of a percept. We
would then know what happens to the percept during per-
ceiving, and could also determine what aspect of the per-
cept must already exist before it is perceived.
With this, our investigation is directed away from the
object of perception and toward its subject. I do not per-
ceive only other things; I also perceive myself. In contrast
to the perceptual images that continually come and go,I
am what remains. This, initially, is the content of my per-
cept of myself. When I have other percepts, the percept of
theI can always appear in my consciousness. However,
when I am immersed in the perception of a given object,
then for the time being I am conscious only of the latter.
The percept of my self can be added to this. I am then not
merely conscious of the object, but also of my personali-
ty, which stands over against the object and observes it. I