INSTINCTIVE ELEMENT IN HUMAN SOCIETY 267 



during his life time. These acquired connections must, of course, very 

 greatly modify the character of the original connections, even though 

 they are made upon the basis of the original connections. There are in 

 man therefore no definite, hard and fast instincts such as characterize 

 the lower types of animals, but rather a complex series of more or less 

 generalized instinctive reactions. 



It is evident that the modern psychological concept of instinct, so 

 far from being metaphysical, is wholly biological. The concept of 

 instinct as inborn pathways of nervous currents is the necessary cor- 

 relate of the biological doctrines of selection and heredity. While the 

 nervous system is more largely modifiable by use than any other part of 

 man's organism, yet its essential structure is inherited and belongs to 

 the stock or the phylum rather than to the individual. The native 

 reactions which are inherited in the hereditary structure of the nervous 

 system are the necessary original equipment with which the individual 

 starts his struggle for existence. Some of these reactions are so simple 

 in organization that they do not enter to any extent into consciousness, 

 and these are known as reflexes. These need not concern us, since they 

 enter directly only into the physical life of the individual organism. 

 But the great majority of these native reactions are complex motor 

 tendencies and have conscious accompaniments, especially feelings, 

 emotions and " desires." Moreover, the acquired habits of the indi- 

 vidual, psychologists tell us, are wholly built up through modification 

 of these native reactions. When the instinctive reaction fails to func- 

 tion properly consciousness comes in to adapt the organism to the new 

 situation, the adaptation being made chiefly through the selection from 

 the varied native impulses. All of the habits of the individual there- 

 fore rest in the last analysis upon the native impulses. Now, the thesis 

 of this paper is that if instincts are the starting point for man's mental 

 life, they must be for his social life also; if, upon the instincts of the 

 individual, all habits are built, so likewise upon them all social customs, 

 institutions and organization must ultimately rest. 



It should be noted that according to the modern psychological con- 

 cept of instinct, instinctive reactions will vary in different individuals 

 and races. Inasmuch as instinct represents the preformed pathways in 

 the nervous system, made in response to demands of previous life con- 

 ditions,* that is, created by selection, we should not expect to find ex- 

 actly the same instinctive reactions in the different races of man. 

 Their instinctive reactions, while fundamentally the same, will vary in 

 some degree because the different racial stocks have been exposed to 

 different selective agencies. This explains why race is a factor in social 

 organization and evolution. Again, the two sexes have been created by 

 somewhat different selective and developmental processes; therefore, 



* ' ' Eesponse ' ' and ' ' demand ' ' are of course used figuratively, without tele- 

 ological significance. 



