It has now become plain that our early reckoning of actions as either
natural or spiritual was too simple and incomplete. Conduct has three
stages, not two. Let us get them clearly in mind. At the beginning of
life we are at the beck and call of every impulse, not having yet
attained reflective command of ourselves. This first stage we may
rightly call that of nature or of unconsciousness, and manifestly most
of us continue in it to some extent and as regards certain tracts of
action throughout life. Then reflection is aroused; we become aware of
what we are doing. The many details of each act and the relations
which surround it come separately into conscious attention for
assessment, approval, or rejection. This is the stage of spirit, or
consciousness. But it is not the final stage. As we have seen in our
example, a stage is possible when action runs swiftly to its intended
end, but with little need of conscious supervision. This mechanized,
purposeful action presents conduct in its third stage, that of second
nature or negative consciousness. As this third is least understood,
is often confused with the first, and yet is in reality the complete
expression of the moral ideal and of that reconciliation of nature and
spirit of which we are in search, I will devote a few pages to its
explanation.

The phrase negative consciousness describes its character most
exactly, though the meaning is not at once apparent. Positive
consciousness marks the second stage. There we are obliged to think of
each point involved, in order to bring it into action. In piano-
playing, for example, I had to study my seat at the piano, the music
on the rack, the letters of the keyboard, the position of my fingers,
and the coordination of all these with one another. To each such
matter a separate and positive attention is given. But even at the
last, when I am playing at my ease, we cannot say that consciousness