CHAPTER VII

THE DESIRE FOR SELF-PRESERVATION

The Nature of the Desire. The desire for self-preservation in its cruder form means merely the desire to preserve life; but in its more refined manifestations it includes the desire to attain perfect health and physical vigor.

The cruder form of the desire is maintained in the individual by the process of natural selection, for it is evident that individuals who did not possess a desire for self-preservation would be eliminated early in life, and those who possessed the desire in only a small degree would be subject to a higher death rate owing to lack of proper care. The finer manifestations of the desire, however, are not necessarily developed by selection. Feelings of pleasure and pain, such as the sensations of hunger and cold, which accompany desire and act as signals of safety or of danger, are not keen enough of themselves to ensure the highest physical well-being. Perfect health is without doubt accompanied by a keen feeling of pleasure, but neglect of health laws is not followed immediately by sufficient pain to stimulate the individual to improve his mode of life. The highest manifestation of the desire for self-preservation must wait therefore for the progress of knowledge and particularly for the laws of hygiene; and the application of this knowledge will depend upon the development of reason and the growth of personality rather than upon feeling alone.

The Strength of the Desire. The strength of the desire for self-preservation varies greatly with different peoples and with different individuals. It seems to be much weaker among primitive peoples than among advanced peoples. Primitive peoples show a smaller mental resistance to death and their vital processes are controlled more directly by the emotions. Advanced peoples have developed through the process of selection a strong tenacity of life which shows itself in ability to

recover from sickness and from surgical operations. As Brinton observes, -"the American Indian, when he falls ill, gives up and dies, while Europeans, though increasingly requiring medical attention, are growing in longevity."1 A strong desire for selfpreservation tends therefore to lower the death rate, but the death rate is affected by so many influences that it could not be used by itself as an accurate index of the strength of this desire.

With human beings the desire for self-preservation is stronger than is the desire for reproduction, but with some of the lower animals the latter desire seems to be the stronger. As compared with the psychological desires, the desire for self-preservation among highly developed individuals becomes wholly subordinate, although with the less progressive it still remains the dominating motive. Perilous conditions, such as fire or shipwreck, illustrate strikingly the extremes in type; on the one hand men struggle like beasts to preserve their lives, while on the other hand they exhibit utter self-sacrifice for the safety of others. Again, where honor is at stake, individuals surrender their lives readily for the welfare of others. And history shows innumerable examples of the willing sacrifice of life when a principle, such as a religious ideal, was involved. The conclusion may be drawn then that as men progress the desire for selfpreservation becomes stronger absolutely, but weaker relatively, to the psychological desires.

Considering the desire for self-preservation from the absolute rather than from the relative point of view, it appears to be none too strong for the best interests of society. Men continually risk their lives from sheer carelessness or from a wish to obtain distinction, when the possible advantage to be gained is slight; or they neglect health and lower their general efficiency for small compensations.

The desire to preserve our own lives finally extends its scope to include the lives of others; in other words it raises our estimate of the value of human life in general. This estimate has grown with increased sympathy, but is still regrettably low. Provided our own lives are not endangered, it is easy to be careless of the lives of others under our control, either through negligence of protective appliances or because of a craving for large profits. Examples are numerous of avoidable deaths from railroad accidents, from unprotected machinery in factories, or from the loss of health due to insanitary conditions of employment, or the adulteration of food products. They show that life is not yet held in greater esteem than property or profits.

Although the desire for self-preservation acts most directly and most strongly on the individual, it may extend its influence to the social group.

The state, for instance, may become the larger expression of the self; and then the amount of care bestowed upon this social group will reflect the sentiments of individuals composing it. Strong desire for self-preservation in individuals will emerge in the social group as efficiency of organization and energy in defence, when the safety of the group is threatened.

Normal and Abnormal Manifestations. The desire for selfpreservation has both normal and abnormal manifestations. Normally it furnishes the basis for approved individual and social activities and for social institutions. In its abnormal manifestations the desire gives rise to problems both individual and social. In a treatise on theoretical sociology any extended discussion of the abnormal has no place. It may be of advantage however to indicate here and there the point of departure, so to speak, of social abnormalities; that is, to point out the conditions under which they arise and their relationship to normal social life.

Abnormal manifestations are of two kinds. The first reveals itself in neglect of the needs of the body relating to food, sleep, or exercise. This form results from a deficiency of the desire, or perhaps merely from a continued concentration of the attention on other matters. The limit of this form of abnormal expression is reached when the desire becomes a negative quantity, giving rise to the problem of suicide. The second form of abnormal manifestation is excessive stimulation or perversion of appetite, leading to the problem of physical excesses, such as intemperance in the use of food or drink, or even overindulgence in exercise or in the use of artificial heat. While intemperance in the use of alcoholic liquors is the most striking

evil arising from the perversion of the desire for self-preservation, the intemperate use of food often has hazardous results, though these are evidently individual rather than social phenomena.

Activities Resulting from the Desire. In its normal action the desire for self-preservation gives rise to two important classes of social activities, economic and political, using those terms broadly. Economic activities will be considered first, and under this heading social conditions arising out of the relationship of man and the environment will be discussed.

Man and the environment are the original factors in social evolution, and the beginnings of progress are to be found in the purely physical relationship between them. This relationship is the basis of the biological process of natural selection which affects man in common with all other forms of life. In the biological use of the term, natural selection means the elimination of individuals who cannot adapt themselves to the environment and a survival of those who are able to adapt themselves. In this connection the term environment is used to include both physical nature and vegetable and animal life. For the present purpose it will be convenient to subdivide the environment into three parts, each of which gives rise to a different form of selection: first, inorganic environment, adaptation to which gives rise to inorganic selection; second, lower organic life both animal and vegetable, struggle with which gives rise to heterogeneric selection; and third, the social environment, adaptation to which produces autogeneric selection,

In the process of the adaptation of man to all three of these environments, two aspects may be distinguished: first, a struggle phase, which is waged on terms of comparative equality; and, second, a condition of utilization in which man adapts the environment to suit his needs. The relationship between man and the environments may therefore be tabulated as follows:

Struggle

Inorganic selection 1. Inorganic nature

Utilization