What Social Objects Must Psychology Presuppose?
Current psychological practice is responsible for the use of the term ‘consciousness’ as if it were a ‘soul.’ This use arises out of the parallelistic treatment of the subject-matter of psychology. Corresponding to the central nervous system, or its states, there is presupposed an island of consciousness whose states parallel the neuroses. This use of consciousness makes a consistent philosophy of nature impossible. The phase of the situation to which the paper directed especial attention, was the view of the self as a growth within this field of consciousness, which is assumed to be open directly only to introspection and to be a presupposition of the consciousness of other selves.
