﻿34-6 
  ADAPTIVENESS 
  AND 
  PURPOSIVENESS 
  

  

  SUMMARY. 
  

  

  Our 
  consideration 
  of 
  the 
  realm 
  of 
  organisms 
  has 
  shown 
  us 
  the 
  

   apartness 
  of 
  living 
  creatures 
  and 
  how 
  they 
  transcend 
  mechanical 
  

   and 
  dynamical 
  formulation, 
  the 
  important 
  role 
  played 
  by 
  behaviour 
  

   with 
  a 
  definitely 
  mental 
  aspect, 
  the 
  pervasiveness 
  of 
  beauty, 
  and 
  

   the 
  large 
  proportion 
  of 
  time 
  and 
  energy 
  devoted 
  to 
  activities 
  which 
  

   make 
  not 
  for 
  self-preservation 
  but 
  for 
  race-welfare. 
  We 
  find, 
  in 
  

   fact, 
  in 
  Animate 
  Nature 
  far-reaching 
  correspondences 
  to 
  our 
  ideals 
  

   of 
  the 
  True, 
  the 
  Beautiful, 
  and 
  the 
  Good, 
  which 
  suggest 
  a 
  re- 
  

   habilitation 
  of 
  Natural 
  Theology. 
  

  

  Taking 
  a 
  wide 
  sweep 
  we 
  gain 
  another 
  great 
  impression 
  that 
  

   of 
  almost 
  universal 
  adaptiveness. 
  Every 
  living 
  creature 
  is 
  a 
  bundle 
  

   of 
  adaptations. 
  It 
  matters 
  comparatively 
  little 
  that 
  we 
  are 
  to 
  some 
  

   extent 
  able 
  to 
  describe 
  the 
  process 
  by 
  which 
  these 
  adaptations 
  have 
  

   arisen 
  (the 
  imperfections 
  of 
  this 
  description 
  to 
  be 
  considered 
  later), 
  

   for 
  the 
  basal 
  fact 
  remains 
  that 
  living 
  creatures 
  have 
  had 
  the 
  capacity 
  

   of 
  evolving 
  tbus 
  adaptively. 
  The 
  adaptiveness 
  depends 
  on 
  intrinsic 
  

   qualities, 
  previously 
  discussed, 
  which 
  are 
  more 
  striking 
  than 
  ready- 
  

   made 
  fitnesses. 
  

  

  Adaptations 
  may 
  be 
  classified 
  as: 
  (1) 
  structural 
  arrangements 
  

   with 
  internal 
  or 
  external 
  reference, 
  (2) 
  co-ordinating 
  functional 
  

   adjustments 
  of 
  a 
  special 
  sort, 
  including 
  regulatory 
  integrations, 
  and 
  

   (3) 
  inter-organismal 
  adaptations. 
  The 
  result 
  of 
  the 
  last 
  is 
  a 
  sys- 
  

   tematisation 
  or 
  co-ordination 
  of 
  lives, 
  world- 
  wide 
  in 
  its 
  scope, 
  and 
  

   often 
  extraordinarily 
  subtle 
  in 
  its 
  accomplishment. 
  

  

  In 
  the 
  inorganic 
  domain 
  we 
  find 
  rigorous 
  concatenation, 
  a 
  domi- 
  

   nance 
  of 
  mechanical. 
  necessitation. 
  There 
  are 
  no 
  unique 
  individual- 
  

   ities, 
  no 
  alternatives; 
  and 
  the 
  concept 
  of 
  purpose 
  is 
  irrelevant 
  (except 
  

   when 
  we 
  are 
  thinking 
  of 
  the 
  significance 
  of 
  the 
  evolutionary 
  trend 
  

   as 
  a 
  whole). 
  .On 
  the 
  other 
  hand, 
  in 
  the 
  human 
  realm 
  of 
  ends, 
  ideal 
  

   anticipations 
  are 
  dominant. 
  Our 
  conduct 
  implies 
  purposeful 
  self- 
  

   determination. 
  There 
  is 
  no 
  difficulty 
  until 
  we 
  begin 
  to 
  consider 
  

   the 
  realm 
  of 
  organisms, 
  between 
  the 
  inorganic 
  and 
  the 
  human. 
  

  

  It 
  may 
  be 
  said 
  that 
  the 
  organism 
  as 
  a 
  whole 
  is 
  characteristically 
  

   purposive, 
  " 
  a 
  unity 
  in 
  which 
  the 
  whole 
  and 
  the 
  parts 
  are 
  recip- 
  

   rocally 
  ends 
  to 
  each 
  other 
  ". 
  It 
  shows 
  some 
  measure 
  of 
  self-deter- 
  

   mination; 
  its 
  behaviour 
  is 
  regulatory, 
  selective, 
  controlled; 
  the 
  

   activities 
  of 
  its 
  parts 
  are 
  correlated 
  in 
  reference 
  to 
  the 
  preservation 
  

   and 
  continuance 
  of 
  the 
  individual 
  and 
  the 
  race. 
  The 
  development 
  

  

  