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  THE 
  ISSUES 
  OF 
  LIFE 
  

  

  pronouncement, 
  have 
  deprecated 
  further 
  inquiry, 
  reminding 
  

   one 
  of 
  people 
  who 
  are 
  nervous 
  as 
  to 
  the 
  manners 
  of 
  their 
  

   poor 
  relations. 
  The 
  inquiry 
  is 
  interesting, 
  for 
  if 
  we 
  have 
  

   made 
  the 
  great 
  assumption 
  that 
  the 
  system 
  of 
  lives 
  which 
  

   we 
  call 
  Animate 
  Nature 
  is 
  an 
  expression 
  of 
  something 
  more 
  

   spiritual 
  and 
  abiding 
  than 
  itself 
  a 
  difficulty 
  will 
  arise 
  if 
  

   the 
  tactics 
  are 
  those 
  of 
  " 
  a 
  dismal 
  cockpit 
  ". 
  

  

  Those 
  who 
  believe 
  that 
  Nature 
  is 
  (as 
  Prof. 
  William 
  James 
  

   phrased 
  it) 
  " 
  the 
  external 
  staging 
  of 
  a 
  many-storied 
  universe, 
  

   in 
  which 
  spiritual 
  forces 
  have 
  the 
  last 
  word 
  ", 
  will 
  have 
  

   to 
  face 
  a 
  great 
  difficulty 
  if 
  what 
  is 
  often 
  reported 
  about 
  

   Nature 
  be 
  even 
  approximately 
  true, 
  that 
  her 
  only 
  word 
  to 
  

   man 
  is 
  " 
  Each 
  for 
  himself, 
  and 
  extinction 
  take 
  the 
  hind- 
  

   most 
  ". 
  We 
  turn 
  again 
  therefore 
  to 
  our 
  task 
  of 
  justifying 
  

   the 
  ways 
  of 
  Nature 
  to 
  man 
  by 
  the 
  method 
  of 
  accurate 
  de- 
  

   scription. 
  

  

  In 
  inquiring 
  into 
  the 
  general 
  tactics 
  of 
  Animate 
  Nature, 
  

   which 
  we 
  have 
  seen 
  to 
  be 
  pervaded 
  with 
  vitality, 
  with 
  men- 
  

   tality, 
  and 
  with 
  beauty, 
  we 
  must 
  avoid 
  two 
  extremes. 
  The 
  

   one 
  focusses 
  attention 
  on 
  Move', 
  the 
  other 
  on 
  ' 
  hunger'; 
  

   the 
  one 
  emphasises 
  race-preserving, 
  the 
  other 
  self-preserving 
  

   activities. 
  On 
  the 
  one 
  hand, 
  there 
  is 
  a 
  wealth 
  of 
  illustrations 
  

   of 
  parental 
  care, 
  of 
  conjugal 
  devotion, 
  of 
  mutual 
  aid, 
  of 
  

   loyalty 
  to 
  kin, 
  of 
  subordination 
  of 
  the 
  individual 
  to 
  the 
  

   life 
  of 
  the 
  herd 
  or 
  hive, 
  in 
  short, 
  of 
  ' 
  altruistic 
  behaviour 
  ', 
  

   if 
  we 
  can 
  use 
  the 
  term 
  in 
  inverted 
  commas 
  to 
  indicate 
  that 
  

   it 
  is 
  below 
  the 
  level 
  of 
  strictly 
  ethical 
  conduct. 
  

  

  The 
  other 
  extreme 
  is 
  appalled 
  by 
  the 
  daemonic 
  element 
  in 
  

   Nature, 
  the 
  non-moral 
  callousness, 
  the 
  wastefulness, 
  the 
  ruth- 
  

   lessness, 
  the 
  egoism, 
  the 
  mere 
  ' 
  weather 
  '. 
  It 
  is 
  well 
  ex- 
  

   pressed 
  in 
  William 
  James's 
  famous 
  essay 
  7,9 
  Life 
  Worth 
  Liv- 
  

   ing? 
  "Visible 
  nature," 
  he 
  says, 
  "is 
  all 
  plasticity 
  and 
  

  

  