In order to obtain a clear concept of the content of an act of perception, it is necessary to look for the ultimate elements of which that perception consists. In other words, a process of analysis is required, by which the perception is dissolved into its constituent elements. As a preliminary condition of such an analysis the perception must be abstracted from all quantity and all quality, extensive and intensive alike. The analysis of the perception of a patch of red color, for instance, will lead to the abstraction of all extension, and the object will then be thought of as consisting of an infinite number of points, the combination of which results in the particular perception. These points constitute the differential elements of extension. Any given perception must thus be thought of, according to Maimon, as consisting of elements that constitute its differentials. In order that we may be conscious of a perception, it must have a certain degree of extension as well as a certain degree of quality, for we are incapable of perceiving the infinitesimals, i.e., the infinitely small points of which it consists. We are conscious only of the compound, i.e., of an object that has a certain degree of extension and quality.¹