or happiness which comes from the adjustment of inner to outer forces. The Mental Desires Contrasted. The consciousness of life manifests itself in aesthetic, intellectual, moral, and religious directions; or in an appreciation of beauty, truth, and right conduct. These activities however are not followed exclusively because of consciousness of life, the desire for approbation frequently entering in as the dominating motive; and when the two desires are responsible for the same activities they may be conveniently contrasted. Taking the first example from aesthetics, many an interest expressed in a particular painter, musician, or author is due not to any real appreciation of the character of the art expressed, but to the fact that the artist has a vogue for the time being. In the same way intellectual interests may be followed because they are deemed the proper pursuits in a particular class in society. Young people only too frequently attend colleges and universities perfunctorily, simply because they would be criticised if they did not; or they take a college course because they think it may mean higher earning power for them, that is, because of economic rather than intellectual interests. Comparatively few ever arrive at an appreciation of the value of an intellectual life for its own sake. The distinction between these two kinds of motives is even more clearly exemplified in moral issues. How many persons are moral because they realize that morality will give them the highest well-being and therefore happiness? In the great majority of cases even of moral conduct individuals usually follow prevailing standards merely to avoid criticism from their social group. The group itself may not always adopt the highest standards, yet few individuals, either from reasoning or from experience, arrive at any independent conclusions as to the actual value of those standards. The opinions of the group suffice. The fact that individuals, temporarily visiting distant places, do what they would not do at home; or that they act, when they think they may conceal their conduct, as they never would if their conduct were certain to be known, shows that frequently morality as such has no important effect upon individual character, but is merely an external method of adaptation to a group. It is just because conduct is to such a large degree the result of the desire for approbation that so frequently we fail to distinguish between true moral conduct, which affects character and social welfare, and the mere observance of manners and ceremonies, which make more agreeable the social relations. Morality is confused with good breeding and comes to be of no more importance. In making the distinction between the desire for approbation and the consciousness of life, the value of the former should not be underestimated. It is much better to follow artistic and intellectual pursuits from a desire for approbation than not to follow them at all. For even if one starts with an emulative motive, he may finally arrive at true appreciation. The desire for approbation is primarily the basis of social life, but it is also a possible point of departure for the development of a true consciousness of life. The highest standards both of conduct and of mental life arise only from the example of those who have true appreciation of their value; and while followers may imitate leaders, either from a desire for approbation or from a consciousness of life, the desire for approbation is the inferior motive for action. The real difference between the two psychological desires is not to be found in the objective acts of an individual but in his consciousness. The important point is not that the individual be engaged in artistic or intellectual pursuits instead of in economic or social activities, because the desire for approbation may be the directing force in all these activities alike, and when it is there is no fundamental social difference between them. The difference is merely one of detail with regard to the direction of one's activities. The important distinction is that some have a vision and act as prophets, directing society to higher levels of conduct, while the majority are subject to the suggestions of the crowd, taking, it may be, a desirable course or one undesirable, but not perceiving whence they go. Attributes of the Consciousness of Life. The consciousness of life differs from other desires in several important respects. In the first place it is not developed actively in every individual. The physical desires are possessed always by human beings in common with the lower animals. They are inherited. And the desire for approbation, if not inherited, is at least normally awakened at a very early age. These three desires are then so established in the race that all normal persons have them. The fourth desire, consciousness of life, may, on the other hand, be said to be only in the process of formation. It emerges occasionally with a particular kind of education and development. It is to be hoped that as civilization advances it will appear more frequently and will develop still higher types. Secondly, the action of consciousness of life is more rational and directive than are the other desires. The physical desires propel man onward through fear and pain; and in the course of their satisfaction progress is made, though such progress is unconscious on the part of the individual. The desire for approbation is a socializing force, tending to unify a group of any sort, whatever its motive or character. But the consciousness of life alone establishes an intelligent ideal, and it does this with the avowed intention of improving society. It is the desire therefore that is of utmost importance in social evolution, because it provides a new method of control. It permits man to determine his course of progress, and therefore to hasten it, instead of submitting to the control of the blind forces of nature. Another difference between consciousness of life and the other desires lies in the nature of the sensations connected with them. All desires are accompanied by feelings of pleasure and of pain; but with the physical desires the predominant feeling is pain. Much of the sensation of well-being which accompanies the satisfaction of physical desires is due to the subsidence of pain rather than to any positive feeling of pleasure, at least the avoidance of pain is the strongest propelling force in their satisfaction. With the desire for approbation the aspect of pleasure begins to be of more importance. People act from a desire for pleasure, as well as from the intent to avoid pain; yet even in our social relations it is probable that the pain side of the desire is still more acute than is the pleasure side. With the consciousness of life for the first time the allurement of the pleasure side becomes the prevailing motive. It is true that, with many, some feeling of pain does arise if the higher intellectual needs are not satisfied; but in this case the sensation is so vague and indefinite, having become attenuated to a mere mood of dissatisfaction or melancholy, that it does not lead one unerringly to the cause of the trouble, and hence does not ensure the satisfaction of the desire. Usually complete satisfaction of the intellectual desires is stimulated by the pleasure anticipated in their satisfaction. After the cultural desires are once developed the feeling of pain comes to be much more definite and disturbing. For example, if one has developed a sense of the beautiful, a lack of harmony in form or color is irritating; in fact most people are sufficiently sensitive to be disturbed by discordant sounds. Wrong conduct, however, produces immediate pain only among those who have developed a high degree of moral discrimination. Continued indulgence in immoral acts may ultimately lead to such painful results that the cause is recognized and the acts discontinued, but not always. Frequently the results are so vague or indirect that the causal relationship is not felt. In the intellectual field fallacious reasoning and misstatements of fact are repugnant only to those whose minds have been trained to an appreciation of truth and accuracy of statement. The absence of the pain element in the consciousness of life is one explanation of its limited development. In general men are spurred to action by a feeling of pain. The possibility of enjoying pleasure which they have never before experienced is an insufficient stimulus to overcome inertia. Cultural activities therefore are not pursued by the mass of society with greater energy because no definite sensation of pain spurs them on to satisfy such needs. The Normal Development of Desires. All desires are in a sense dependent upon one another. All are needed for man's higher development. Normally the physical desires are first satisfied; and the activities arising from these desires furnish a basis for the higher intellectual pursuits; while the desire for approbation stimulates a development of the personality essential to their cultivation. Thus the normal growth of the desires of individuals within a society ensures the proper development of social activities in that society. In primitive societies economic activities will predominate; but, as economic development proceeds, cultural interests will arise and will become relatively of greater and greater importance. A society developing in this normal way will pass from what Professor Patten has called a pain economy to a pleasure economy. In the early period of such a society pains and privations will be uppermost; but, as nature is mastered and the intellectual or cultural needs begin to assert themselves, the pain side of life will diminish and the pleasure side will increase in importance. Not only may a society pass from the dominance of a lower desire to the control of a higher desire; but the character of each desire may change and its satisfaction become more refined. The desire for self-preservation may go beyond the stage of mere satisfaction of the appetites and may develop into the desire for perfect physical health and activity. The desire for race continuance, instead of remaining merely sex impulse, may assume a higher form in paternal and marital affection. In the same way the desire for approbation may show many gradations from the desire for flattery to the pleasure derived from the esteem of one's fellows because of real merit. From the standpoint of desire then progress may result from the development and refinement of each desire, as well as from the increase of cultural activity over physical. Other Classifications of Desires. A few other representative classifications of desires may now be presented for comparison. Many years ago Ward made the following classification: 1. Physical Q. Individual preservation. b. Race continuance. Q. Aesthetic. The physical desires in this outline are those which I have adopted in my own classification. They might be criticised on the ground that they are too inclusive and do not specify all the instincts; but for the present purpose more detail seems unnecessary. The chief defect in the above grouping lies in the |