Page:Mind (Old Series) Volume 9.djvu/540

528 CHARLES MERCIER : the feeling gains in this way that the term is often used in substitution for the term Authority, which is properly only a particular case of Power. The term Ease is somewhat ambiguous, in that it is ap- plied not only, as many names of feeling are, to the corre- sponding phase of conduct ease of execution facility which is the outward expression of the feeling here considered, but also to another phase of conduct, and through that to another feeling that ease which is equivalent to otinm. The context shows sufficiently clearly the sense in which the term is used here, a sense which, I think, is justifiable and convenient. The feeling occupies the same position towards that of Power that the feeling of Difficulty does towards that of Impotence. The term Difficulty which is applied to the allied and contrary feeling is likewise ambiguous in that it is applied not only to the feeling which arises when considerable exer- tion is necessary to produce a given effect, but also to the circumstance in the environment which renders the exertion necessary. This ambiguity is not, however, likely to give rise to mistake. I am not sure that the term has been used before to connote the subjective state, but it seems to me undeniable that a distinct feeling arises in correspondence with the relation described, that this feeling lies between those of Power and Impotence, approaching nearer to the latter than to the former, and that it may fairly and appro- priately be termed a feeling of Difficulty. A more advanced stage of the action of the organism on the environment, and a more special relation between the two has now to be considered. An act of the organism is a movement for the achievement of an end. If the end is attained the act is successful : if not, it is a failure. The success or failure of an act is quite distinct from the efi'ect produced on the environment by the act. The latter is an affair of quantity, the former concerns quality. If a man throws a stone at an object, the effect of his act, in the sense in which the word is used here, is the amount of movement imparted to the stone, and communicated to whatever the stone strikes ; but the success or failure of the act depends on whether or no the stone strikes the particular object aimed at. The stone may be thrown a great distance with but little exertion and make a great smash by its fall, and in correspondence a feeling of Ease and even of Power may arise ; yet, if it fails to hit the particular object aimed at, the act as a whole is a failure. For the feelings which