Wikipedia の "stream of consciousness" の項目の解説に載っている William James の
意識についての考え方。以下は、引用。

Stream of consciousness is a narrative device used in literature "to depict the multitudinous
thoughts and feelings which pass through the mind. Another phrase for it is 'interior monologue'.
"[1] The term "Stream of Consciousness" was coined by philosopher and psychologist William
James in The Principles of Psychology (1890):

consciousness, then, does not appear to itself as chopped up in bits ... it is nothing joined; it flows.
A 'river' or a 'stream' are the metaphors by which it is most naturally described. in talking of it hereafter,
lets call it the stream of thought, consciousness, or subjective life.[2]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stream_of_consciousness_(narrative_mode)