still so industriously carried on in text-books, of chopping
up 'the mind' into distinct units of composition or function,
numbering these off, and labelling them by technical names.




III. THE CHILD AS A BEHAVING ORGANISM


I wish now to continue the description of the peculiarities of the
stream of consciousness by asking whether we can in any intelligible way
assign its _functions_.

It has two functions that are obvious: it leads to knowledge, and it
leads to action.

Can we say which of these functions is the more essential?

An old historic divergence of opinion comes in here. Popular belief has
always tended to estimate the worth of a man's mental processes by their
effects upon his practical life. But philosophers have usually cherished
a different view. "Man's supreme glory," they have said, "is to be a
_rational_ being, to know absolute and eternal and universal truth. The
uses of his intellect for practical affairs are therefore subordinate
matters. 'The theoretic life' is his soul's genuine concern." Nothing
can be more different in its results for our personal attitude than to
take sides with one or the other of these views, and emphasize the
practical or the theoretical ideal. In the latter case, abstraction from
the emotions and passions and withdrawal from the strife of human