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whicharetheonlyconditionsspecified，andwhichheseemstoexplainnotastheconditionsbutastheproductofassociation。J。S。Millperceivedthatsomethingwaswantingwhichheafterwardstriedtosupply。Iwilljustindicateoneortwopoints，whichmayshowwhatproblemsthefatherbequeathedtothesonJamesMill，atoneplace，discussestheoddproblem’howithappensthatalltrainsofthoughtarenotthesame。’90Themoreobviousquestionis，onhishypothesis，howithappensthatanytwopeoplehavethesamebeliefs，sincethebeliefsaremadeofthemostvaryingmaterials。If，again，twoideaswhenassociatedremaindistinct，wehaveHume’sdifficulty。Whateverisdistinguishable，heargued，isseparable。
Iftwoideassimplyliesidebyside，asisapparentlyimpliedby’contiguity，’
sothateachcanbetakenapartwithoutchange，whyshouldwesupposethattheywillneverexistapart，or，indeed，thattheyshouldeveragaincometogether?Thecontiguitydoesnotdependuponthem，butuponsomeinscrutablecollocation，ofwhichwecanonlysaythatitexistsnow。ThisistheproblemwhichgreatlyoccupiedJ。S。Mill。
The’indissoluble’or’inseparable’
association，whichbecamethegrandarcanumoftheschool，whileintendedtoanswersomeofthesedifficulties，raisesothers。Millseemstoinsistuponsplittingaunitintopartsinorderthatitmaybeagainbroughttogetherbyassociation。SoJ。S。Mill，inanadmiringnote，confirmshisfather’sexplanation(’oneofthemostimportantthoughtsinthewholetreatise’)oftheinfinityofspace。91Wethinkspaceinfinitebecausewealways’associate’positionwithextension。Surelyspaceisextension；andtothinkofonewithouttheotherimpliesacontradiction。
Wethinkspaceinfinite，becausewethinkofaspaceasonlylimitedbyotherspace，andthereforeindefinitelyextensible。Thereisno’association，’
simplyrepetition。Elsewherewehavetheproblem，Howdoesoneassociationexcludeanother?Only，asJ。S。Millreplies，whenoneideaincludestheideaoftheabsenceoftheothers。92Wecannotcombinetheideasofaplaneandaconvexsurface。Why?Becausewehaveneverhadbothsetsofsensationstogether。The’commencement’ofonesethasalwaysbeen’simultaneouswiththecessationofanotherset，’as，forinstance，whenwebendaflatsheetofpaper。Thedifficultyseemstobethatonefactcannotbecontradictoryofanother，sincecontradictiononlyappliestoassertions。WhenIsaythatAisaboveB，however，IsurelyassertthatBisbelowA；andIcannotmakebothassertionsaboutAandBatthesametimewithoutacontradiction。
Toexplainthisbyanassociationofsimultaneousandsuccessivesensationsseemstobeacuriouslyroundaboutwayof’explaining。’Everyassertionisalsoadenial；and，ifIamentitledtosayanything，Iamenabledwithoutanyhelpfromassociationtodenyitscontradictory。OnMill’sshowing，theassertionandthedenialofitscontradiction，insteadofbeingidentical，aretakentobetwobeliefsaccidentallyassociated。Finally，Ineedonlymakeoneremarkuponthefundamentaldifficulty。Itishardtoconceiveofmereloose’ideas’goingaboutintheuniverseatlargeandstickingaccidentallytoothers。Afterall，thehumanbeingisintruesensealsoanorganisedwhole，andhisconstitutionmustbetakenintoaccountindiscoveringthelawsof’ideation。’ThisisthepointofviewtowhichMill，inhisanxietytogetridofeverythingthathadasavourofaprioriknowledgeaboutit，remainscomparativelyblind。Itimpliesaremarkableomission。Mill’sgreatteacher，Hartley，hadappealedtophysiologyinanecessarilycrudefashion。Hehadthereforeanorganism：abrainoranervoussystemwhichcouldreactupontheexternalworldandmodifyandcombinesensations。Mill’sideaswouldhavemoreapparentconnectioniftheycouldbemadetocorrespondto’vibratiuncles’orphysicalprocessesofsomekind。ButthispartofHar
