A better example of involuntary speaking would I suppose be that of
involuntary exclamations: “Oh!”,
“Help!”, and such like, and these
utterances are akin to shrieking with pain.
(This, by the way, could set us thinking about “words as
expressions of feelings.”)
One might say, “Surely these are good examples of
involuntary speech, because there is in these cases not only no act of
volition by which we speak, but in many cases we utter these words
against our will.”
I should say: I certainly should call this involuntary
speaking; and I agree that an act of volition preparatory to or
accompanying these words is absent, – – if by “act of
volition” you refer to certain acts of
122.
intention,
premeditation, or effort.
But then in many cases of voluntary sp
eech I
don't feel an effort, much that I
speak || say
voluntarily is not premeditated, and I don't know of
any acts of intention preceding it.