whicharetheonlyconditionsspecified，andwhichheseemstoexplainnotastheconditionsbutastheproductofassociation。J。S。Millperceivedthatsomethingwaswantingwhichheafterwardstriedtosupply。Iwilljustindicateoneortwopoints，whichmayshowwhatproblemsthefatherbequeathedtothesonJamesMill，atoneplace，discussestheoddproblem’howithappensthatalltrainsofthoughtarenotthesame。’90Themoreobviousquestionis，onhishypothesis，howithappensthatanytwopeoplehavethesamebeliefs，sincethebeliefsaremadeofthemostvaryingmaterials。If，again，twoideaswhenassociatedremaindistinct，wehaveHume’sdifficulty。Whateverisdistinguishable，heargued，isseparable。
Iftwoideassimplyliesidebyside，asisapparentlyimpliedby’contiguity，’
sothateachcanbetakenapartwithoutchange，whyshouldwesupposethattheywillneverexistapart，or，indeed，thattheyshouldeveragaincometogether?Thecontiguitydoesnotdependuponthem，butuponsomeinscrutablecollocation，ofwhichwecanonlysaythatitexistsnow。ThisistheproblemwhichgreatlyoccupiedJ。S。Mill。
The’indissoluble’or’inseparable’
association，whichbecamethegrandarcanumoftheschool，whileintendedtoanswersomeofthesedifficulties，raisesothers。Millseemstoinsistuponsplittingaunitintopartsinorderthatitmaybeagainbroughttogetherbyassociation。SoJ。S。Mill，inanadmiringnote，confirmshisfather’sexplanation’oneofthemostimportantthoughtsinthewholetreatise’oftheinfinityofspace。91Wethinkspaceinfinitebecausewealways’associate’positionwithextension。Surelyspaceisextension；andtothinkofonewithouttheotherimpliesacontradiction。
Wethinkspaceinfinite，becausewethinkofaspaceasonlylimitedbyotherspace，andthereforeindefinitelyextensible。Thereisno’association，’
simplyrepetition。Elsewherewehavetheproblem，Howdoesoneassociationexcludeanother?Only，asJ。S。Millreplies，whenoneideaincludestheideaoftheabsenceoftheothers。92Wecannotcombinetheideasofaplaneandaconvexsurface。Why?Becausewehaveneverhadbothsetsofsensationstogether。The’commencement’ofonesethasalwaysbeen’simultaneouswiththecessationofanotherset，’as，forinstance，whenwebendaflatsheetofpaper。Thedifficultyseemstobethatonefactcannotbecontradictoryofanother，sincecontradictiononlyappliestoassertions。WhenIsaythatAisaboveB，however，IsurelyassertthatBisbelowA；andIcannotmakebothassertionsaboutAandBatthesametimewithoutacontradiction。
Toexplainthisbyanassociationofsimultaneousandsuccessivesensationsseemstobeacuriouslyroundaboutwayof’explaining。’Everyassertionisalsoadenial；and，ifIamentitledtosayanything，Iamenabledwithoutanyhelpfromassociationtodenyitscontradictory。OnMill’sshowing，theassertionandthedenialofitscontradiction，insteadofbeingidentical，aretakentobetwobeliefsaccidentallyassociated。Finally，Ineedonlymakeoneremarkuponthefundamentaldifficulty。Itishardtoconceiveofmereloose’ideas’goingaboutintheuniverseatlargeandstickingaccidentallytoothers。Afterall，thehumanbeingisintruesensealsoanorganisedwhole，andhisconstitutionmustbetakenintoaccountindiscoveringthelawsof’ideation。’ThisisthepointofviewtowhichMill，inhisanxietytogetridofeverythingthathadasavourofaprioriknowledgeaboutit，remainscomparativelyblind。Itimpliesaremarkableomission。Mill’sgreatteacher，Hartley，hadappealedtophysiologyinanecessarilycrudefashion。Hehadthereforeanorganism：abrainoranervoussystemwhichcouldreactupontheexternalworldandmodifyandcombinesensations。Mill’sideaswouldhavemoreapparentconnectioniftheycouldbemadetocorrespondto’vibratiuncles’orphysicalprocessesofsomekind。ButthispartofHartley’shypothesishadbeendropped：andallrealityisthereforereducedtothewhirlofvagrantandaccidentallycoheringideasinbrainsandclusters。Hisonemainaimistogetridofeverythingthatcanbecalledmysticalandtotraceallmentalprocessesto’experience，’asheunderstandsexperience——toshowthatweareneverentitledtoassertthattwoideasmaynotbejoinedinanywaywhatever。
Thegeneraltendencyofthe’AssociationPhilosophy’issufficientlyclear。Itmaybebestappreciatedbycomparingittothemethodofthephysicalsciences，whichitwasintendedtorival。Thephysicistexplainsthe’lawsofnature’byregardingaphenomenonasduetothevaryingarrangementsofanindefinitemultitudeofuniformatoms。Ineednotaskwhethertheseatomsaretoberegardedasrealities，eventhesolerealities，or，ontheotherhand，asakindoflogicalscaffoldingremovablewhenthelawsareascertained。Inanycase，theassumptionisnecessaryandmostfruitfulinthesearchforaccurateandquantitativeformulae。Millvirtuallyassumesthatthesamethingcanbedonebybreakingupthestreamofconsciousnessintotheideaswhichcorrespondtotheprimitiveatoms。Whatpreciselytheseatomsmaybe，howtheconstantlyvaryingflowofthoughtcanberesolvedintoconstituentfractions，isnoteasytosee。
Thephysicistatleastsupposeshisatomstohavedefinitespacerelations，butthereisnothingclearlycorrespondingtospaceinthe’ideas。’Theyarecapableofnothingbutco-existence，sequence，andlikeness；buttheattempttoexplainthemeaningofthosewordsendsinnothingbutrepeatingthem。Oneresultisthecuriouscombinationoftheabsoluteandtheindefinitelyvariable。Wegetabsolutestatementsbecausetheultimateconstituentsaretakentobeabsolutelyconstant。Wehaveindefinitevariabilitybecausetheymaybecollocatedinanyconceivableorinconceivableway。Thisbecomesevidentwhenwehavetodowithorganismsofanykind：withcharactersorsocietiesanorganismvaries，butvariesalongdefinitelines。But，onMill’sshowing，theorganicRelationscorrespondtotheindefinitelyvariable。Educationisomnipotent；stateconstitutionscanbemanufacturedatwill，andproduceindefiniteconsequences。Andyethecanlaydownlawsofabsolutevalidity，becauseheseemstobededucingthemfromoneortwoformulaecorrespondingtotheessentialandinvariablepropertiesoftheultimateunit——whethermanorideas。Fromthisfollows，too，thetendencytospeakasifhumandesirescorrespondedtosomedefinitemeasurablethings，suchasutilityinethics，valueinpoliticaleconomy，andself-interestinpolitics。ThispointappearsintheapplicationofMill’stheoriestothemoralsciences。
III。JAMESMILL’SETHICS
JamesMillinhisethicaldoctrinefollowsBenthamwithlittlevariation；butheshowsveryclearlywhatwasthepsychologywhichBenthamvirtuallyassumed。ImaypassverybrieflyoverMill’stheoryofconduct93ingeneral。The’phenomenaofthought，’hesays，maybedividedintothe’intellectual’andthe’active’
powers。Hithertohehasconsidered’sensations’and’ideas’merelyasexisting；
hewillnowconsiderthemas’excitingtoaction。’94Thephenomenaconsistinbothcasesofsensationsandideas，combinedinto’clusters，’
andformedintotrains’accordingtothesenselaws。’Wehavenowtoconsidertheideasasactive，and’todemonstratethesimplelawsintowhichthephenomenaofhumanlife，sonumerousandapparentlysodiversified，mayallbeeasilyresolved。’
Adesireisan’idea’ofapleasantsensation；an’aversion’anideaofpainfulsensation。Theideaandthesensationarenottwothings，buttwonamesforthesamething。
Desire，again，hasa’tacitreferencetofuturetime’whenappliedtoagivencase。Weassociatethesepainsandpleasureswiththecauses；andintheimportantcaseourownactionsarethecauses。Thustheassociationproducesthemotive，andthereadinesstoobeythemotiveis，asBenthamsays，the’disposition。’Then，followingHartley，Millexplainsthewill。
Bodilyactionsaremuscularcontractions，whichareslowlycoordinatedbyhabit-association，ofcourse，actingateverystageoftheprocess。
Now，itisaplainfactthatmuscularcontractionsfollow’ideas。’Itiseasy，then，toseehowthe’ideaofapleasureshouldexcitetheideaoftheactionwhichisthecauseofit；andhow，whentheideaexists，theactionshouldfollow。’95An’end’isapleasuredesired，andgivesthe’motive。’Whenwestartfromthemotiveandgetthepleasurethesameassociationiscalled’will。’’Free-will’isofcoursenonsense。
Wehaveafullaccountofthehumanmechanism，andcanseethatitisthroughoutworkedbyassociation，admittingtheprimaryfactofexperiencethattheideacausesthemuscularcontraction。
This，andtheethicalconclusionswhichfollow，substantiallycoincidewithBentham’sdoctrine，orsupplythefirstprinciplesfromwhichBenthammightbededuced。AfullerexpositionoftheethicsisgivenintheFragmentonMackintosh。Mackintosh，in1829，wroteaDissertationupon’EthicalPhilosophy，’fortheEncyclopaediaBritannica。96ThebookstirredMill’s’indignationagainstanevil-doer。’97HewroteaFragmentonMackintosh，whichwassuppressedforatimeinconsequenceofhisantagonist’sdeathin1832，butpublishedintheyearofhisowndeath，1835。98AccordingtoProfessorBain，thebookwassoftenedinconsequenceofremonstrancesfromBickersteth。Itwouldbecurioustoseethepreviousversion。ProfessorBainsaysthatthereare’thousands’ofbookswhichcontain’farworseseveritiesoflanguage。’IconfessthatIcannotrememberquite’athousand。’
Itisatleastdifficulttoimaginemoreunmitigatedexpressionsofcontemptandaversion。Mackintosh，saysMill，uses’macaroniphrases，’’tawdrytalk，’
’gabble’；hegets’beyonddrivelling’intosomethingmorelike’raving’；
he’deluges’uswith’unspeakablenonsense。’’GoodGod！’sumsupthecommentwhichcanbemadeupononesentence。99SirJames，hedeclares，’hasgotintoanintellectualstatesothoroughlydepravedthatIdoubtwhetheraparalleltoitispossibletobefound。’100’ThereisscarcelyamentionofMackintoshwithoutaninsult。ApartialexplanationofMill’swrathmaybesuggestedbythechapteruponBentham。MackintoshthereaccusedtheUtilitariansgenerallyof’wantonlywoundingthemostrespectablefeelingsofmankind，’of’clingingtoopinionsbecausetheyareobnoxious，’oftakingthemselvestobea’chosenfew，’despisingthemultitude，andretortingthedislikewhichtheirarrogancehasprovokedbyusingstillmoreexasperatinglanguage。101Hesuggestedthattheyshoulddomorejusticeto’theRomillysandtheBroughams，’whohadbeentherealandjudiciousreformers；andheillustratedtheerrorsofBenthambyespecialreferencetoMill’sargumentsupongovernmentandeducation。
Therehadlongbeenanantipathy。Mackintosh，saidMillin1820，’livesbutforLondondisplay；parleretfaireparlerdeluiincertaincirclesishisheaven。’102
Mackintoshwouldhavebeenmostathomeinaprofessorialchair。Hewas，indeed，professoratHaileyburyfrom1818to1824，andspokenofasaprobablesuccessortoBrownatEdinburgh。
Buthecouldneverdecidedlyconcentratehimselfupononemainpurpose。
Habitsofprocrastinationandcarelessnessaboutmoneycausedembarrassmentwhichforcedhimtowritehastily。Hisloveofsocietyinterferedwithstudy，andhisstudywasspreadoveranimpossiblerangeofsubjects。Hisgreatabilities，wastedbytheseinfirmities，weresecondedbyverywidelearning。MacaulaydescribestheimpressionwhichhemadeatHollandHouse。103Hepassedamonghisfriendsastheprofoundphilosopher；themanofuniversalknowledgeofhistory；ofripeandmostimpartialjudgmentinpolitics；