ABSTRACT

The modern theory of so-called psychophysical parallelism runs as follows: the 'Physical,' in the sense of the mechanical interpretation of nature, and the 'Mental,' are two separated realms of being and of becoming, or even of being only. The inquiry into the validity of parallelism thus has meaning both on a metaphysical basis and on the basis of a 'critique,' that is, on a theory of order. It is categorical dogmatism to assume, without special and careful inquiry, that parallelism is necessarily right; or that nature is necessarily through and through a mechanical system. The solution of the problem of parallelism must therefore be found in the subject matter itself, that is, in the facts themselves. But the 'matter itself' is in the first place the Mental; and, secondarily, it is the mechanical or the physico-chemical with which the mental is to be compared.