ABSTRACT
Conation, in the sense, is the element of impulse most plainly to be inferred from the behaviour of organisms low down in the scale of life. The main difference between activity of a primitive organism and that of the boy aimlessly flicking the stick is that, whilst in the former case each simple movement seems to be so far distinct from the preceding one that it may be regarded as the result of a separate impulse, in the latter case, owing to the greater complexity of human organisation, responses to the urge to activity are far more complex. The term ‘feeling’ is in its very vagueness more suitable to express the earlier stages either of vague discomfort experienced by the organism owing to the insistence of some need or to some pressure of its surroundings, or its corresponding satisfaction in the experience of a state of well-being.
