130 SCIENCE AND PHILOSOPHY OF THE ORGANISM 



remains purely descriptive, the word " purposeful " might be 

 applied to relations of very great variety. The feet of men 

 are very " purposeful " for walking, and so are the wings of 

 birds for flying ; the process of regeneration in the earthworm 

 is purposeful, as is also the formation of an antitoxin after a 

 snake's bite ; the insect Phyllum has a very purposeful 

 form and colour for being protected against enemies. But 

 the modern railway system is very purposeful too ; the lift 

 is a very purposeful instrument ; and of a man who triples 

 his fortune in three years it might be said that he acted 

 purposefully on some occasion, while the physician also acts 

 purposefully when by an operation he saves his patient 

 from death. 



There is not the slightest doubt that the word purposeful 

 cannot be used scientifically without thoroughly sifting its 

 meaning. 



Let us, in the first place, avoid applying the word 

 purposeful to mere arrangements or states : an engine of 

 any kind is not purposeful but is " useful " ; in a certain 

 sense it may be called " a purpose," and it is useful if it 

 allows some events to go on which are " purposeful " in any 

 sense. Only events, then, are " purposeful." 



But when is an event to be called purposeful and when 

 is it not ? 



To comprehend the proper meaning of the term " purpose- 

 ful ' : let us start by considering my own actions, to which 

 this term is originally applicable. We shall here pursue 

 a line of thought which later on is to lead us to very 

 important consequences, but which at present is merely 

 used for the sake of a clear terminology. My acting is 

 " purposeful " whenever it serves to bring about what I like 



