[535] James Mill, Analysis of the Phenomena of the Human Mind, vol. ii, chap. xxiv. Tiedemann’s remarks on the subject, too, are clear and brief. Op. cit., p. 12.
[536] See A. Pfänder, Das Bewusstsein des Wollens. Zeitschr. f. Psych. u. Phys. d. Sin., vols. x and xvii.
[537] The strong emphasis of imitation in hypnosis seems to support this, for there we have a decided narrowing of the consciousness, so that the antagonistic motive has little showing compared with the idea of movement.
[538] An attempt to explain the charm of what is forbidden, not by means of the fighting impulse but on the ground of psychic inhibition may be found in Lipps’s Grundthatsachen des Seelenleben, pp. 634, 641.
[539] In this triumph we find a means of explanation for the exhilarating effect of simple—that is neither mischievous nor mocking—imitation.
[540] The biological criterion of practice of the impulse is not very well applicable to imitation. We do not copy playfully in order to be able to copy seriously, and, moreover, playful imitation itself accomplishes the purpose. Yet the practice theory is of course indebted to the contributions of imitation in the highest degree.
[541] The question as to whether play may not be more extensive from a purely biological standpoint is touched upon in the theoretical division.
[542] “I looked for great men,” said Nietzsche once, “and found them only aping their ideals.” Vol. viii, p. 66.
[543] Social and Ethical Interpretations, p. 103.
[544] Fr. Tracy, The Psychology of Childhood, fourth edition, Boston, 1897, p. 104.