[1425] This is the argument which William James has expounded in his characteristically picturesque style. “Take a sentence of a dozen words, and take twelve men and tell to each one word. Then stand the men in a row or jam them in a bunch, and let each think of his word as intently as he will; nowhere will there be a consciousness of the whole sentence” (Principles of Psychology, i. p. 160).
[1426] A 363 n. Cf. below, pp. 461-2.
[1427] A 356. Cf. Adickes, K. p. 688 n.
[1428] The argument is here in harmony with Kant’s definition of transcendental illusion.
[1429] A 358.
[1430] A 361.
[1431] A 364.
[1432] William James’s psychological description of self-consciousness is simply an extension of this illustration. Cf. Principles of Psychology, i. p. 339; quoted above, p. 278 n.
[1433] A 363 n.
[1434] A 362-3 and A 364. We must also, however, bear in mind that in this chapter Kant occasionally argues in ad hominem fashion from the point of view of the position criticised.