ABSTRACT
Will, as the thing in itself, constitutes the inner, true and indestructible essence of the human being, in itself however it is without consciousness. For consciousness is conditioned by the intellect, and this is a mere accident of our essence. For consciousness consists in cognition, but cognition requires that which is cognizant and that which is cognized; for this reason, self-consciousness could not exist if, over against that which is cognizant in it, there were not also some distinct thing cognized. In the same way, namely, as there can be no object without subject, there can be no subject without object. This is why a consciousness that would be through and through pure intelligence is impossible. Intelligence is like the sun, which does not illuminate space unless an object exists by which its rays are reflected. Thus in self-consciousness the cognized, must be the first and original; that which cognizes is by contrast only the secondary, the mirror.
