Ravaisson pg. 25-39

Conclusion: Human beings are the highest order of being. This is because they constitute the necessary elements of a being, but they are elevated above all other beings by their ability to posses motive power and move in absolute freedom by such power. In this lies consciousness, which in turn provides the greatest view of the nature of habit, a view which can only be held by beings of the highest order.

“….but life takes another, final step. Motive Power arrives, along with the organs of movement, at the highest degree of perfection…..This being is ourselves…here consciousness begins…it is in consciousness alone that we can find the archetype of habit….” (pg 37 and 39).

Premise 1:  A being must at its core constitute heterogeneous unity in space (Organization) and successive unity in time (Life).                                                                                                                                                                    

A. These combined allow for individuality as well as for the conditions of habit to come together                         B. This is the basis for nature itself; habit begins with nature                                                                                          C. these basic qualities are the defining qualities of plants, whose habits extend solely to                       decreasing receptivity and increasing spontaneity, closely correlated with increasing                                                permeance and change, on a minimal level. (Pg 31)

Premise 2:  The next order of being builds off the core qualities to include movement in external space, movement different from plant movement in that reaction from external objects yields an internal force, an organ, from within the being that allows it to make the necessary movements.                                                                  A. Plants experience growth in space, different from the movement in space characteristic of                            animal life (pg 33).                                                                                                                                                                   B. Animal life, while having movement in space, is also characterized by a defined                                           duration, interspersed with intervals of action and inaction. Nevertheless, spontaneity                                         increases and receptivity decreases, with spontaneity being the prime factor in                                                                movement. (Pg 35)                                                                                                                                                                            C.  This is an indication of a higher position of being by multiplication of permeance and change,                     the first conditions of habit seen at a smaller scale in vegetal life.

Premise 3: The third order of being includes movement which involves the being changing place, far more unaffected by and independent of external forces that limit the animals in the order below it (pg 37).

Premise 4: The highest order of being, while containing all the characteristics of the aforementioned orders, is defined by motive power and along with the freest of movement is only characteristic of the animal which is man. This consciousness, through its identity as the full culmination of the factors constituting habit, is what allows for the full illumination and fulfillment of habit (pg 39).