We need more investigation,
more light. We must not rest contented with old prejudices or accept
with too great certainty new explanations. The questions are worthy
of careful and patient investigation. The study of comparative
anatomy has thrown a flood of light on the structure and working of
the human body in health and disease. We shall never fully
understand the mind of man until we know more of the working of the
mind of the animal.
It would seem to be clear that there is a sequence of dominance in
the faculties of the intellect. First, the only means of acquiring
knowledge is through sense-perception. But memory dawns far down in
the animal kingdom. And thus the animal begins to associate past
experience with present objects. The bee remembers the gaining of
honey in the past, associated with the color of the flower which she
now sees, and knows that honey is to be attained again. Thus in time
association leads to inference, and understanding has dawned. But
the highest faculty of the intellect is the rational intelligence,
which perceives beauty, truth, and goodness. This is the last to
develop. Traces of its working may be perhaps discovered below man,
but only in man does it become dominant. Through it I perceive my
rights and duties, and come to the consciousness of my own
personality as a moral agent.
Pages:
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170
171
172
173