Encyclopedia of sacred theology - pagina 106

82

§ 39.

tree,

an animal,

ORGANIC RELATION

etc.

And

[Div. II

because they are complicated,

demands the combined

their simple observation

activity of

One reason the more for our perception and thought. including both under the faculty of the understanding. Undoubtedly a similar consciousness is active in the more

When

highly organized animals.

a tiger sees

fire

in the

though he may never have Hence he has not only the knowledge of certain elefelt it. ments, but also a limited knowledge of their relations, and in a sense much more accurate and immediate than man's. But it will not do to transfer the idea of understanding;' to animals on this ground. First, we do not know how this elementary knowledge is effected in the animal. Secondly, this knowledge in the animal is susceptible of only a very limited development. And in the third place, in the animal it bears mostly an instinctive character, which suggests another manA certain preformation of what operates ner of perception. in our human consciousness must be admitted in the animal. But if to a certain extent the activity in man and animal seems similar, no conclusion can be drawn from one activity to the other. We know absolutely nothing of the way in which animals perceive the forms and relations of phenomena. On the other hand, we are justified in concluding that in distance, he knovs^s that

our

human

it

hurts,

consciousness, since the conciousness of elements

and relations

must be microscopically

in the object

present,

without this consciousness the emotions received could never produce what we know as smell, taste, enjoyment of It must be granted that these emotions color, sound, etc. in us could simply correspond to certain sensations which we call smell, taste, etc. but in the first place this correspondence would have to be constant, and thereby have a ;

certain objectivity; and, again, this objective character lifted above

abstract

mind

it

all

tliouglit.

appears

doubt by what we

From that

call

these two activities of the

our

human

is

imagination and

consciousness

human can

be

by the elements and can not only take up their relations in us, but from this taking-up into itself, which is affected

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