150 THE WHENCE AND THE WHITHER OF MAN 



best conformed to their environment. And this applies 

 to man as well as to lower animals. All knowledge is 

 in man, therefore, primarily, a means by which he may 

 conform to environment, survive, and progress. But 

 conformity includes more than mere knowledge of en- 

 vironment. A man might have all knowledge, and yet 

 refuse to conform ; and then his knowledge could not 

 save him from destruction. For conformity alone gives 

 survival. Conformity in man requires an effort of the 

 will. It is intelligent, but it is also voluntary action. 

 And knowledge is a necessary means of conformity 

 because through it we see how we may conform, and 

 because it furnishes the motives which stimulate the 

 will to the necessary effort. 



Now, that faculty of the intellect which is dominant 

 in man, and which has raised him immeasurably above 

 the animal, and made him man, is the rational intelli- 

 gence. If there is any such thing as a law of history 

 or as continuity in evolution, man's future progress 

 must depend upon his clearer vision and recognition 

 of the perceptions of this faculty. Through it man 

 perceives beauty, truth, and goodness, and attains 

 knowledge of himself as a person and moral agent, 

 and recognizes his rights and duties. Of all this the 

 animal is and remains unconscious ; indeed he is not 

 yet a moral being and person in any proper sense of 

 the word. 



Inasmuch as the rational perception is the dominant 

 faculty in man, it must perceive the lines along which 

 he is to conform. Truth, right, and duty must be his 

 watchwords. These are to be the rules and motives of 

 all his actions. He cannot live for the body, but for 

 something higher, the mind. This was proven before 



