On Intelligence

Whilst the greatest effort has been made to ensure the quality of this text, due to the historical nature of this content, in some rare cases there may be minor issues with legibility. IF I am not mistaken, we mean now-a-days by Intelligence, what was formerly called Understanding or Intellect — that is to say, the faculty of knowing; this, at least, is the sense in which I have taken the word. At all events, I here intend to examine our knowledge, that is to say, our cognitions, and nothing else. The words faculty, capacity, power, which have played so great a part in psychology, are only, as we shall see, convenient names by means of which we put together, in distinct compartments, all facts of a distinct kind; these names indicate a character common to all the facts under a distinct heading they do not indicate a mysterious and profound essence, remaining constant and hidden under the flow of transient facts. This is why I have treated of cognitions only, and, if I have mentioned faculties, it has been to show that in themselves, and as distinct entities, they do not exist.