(t 



THE EXCESS-VALUE IN BEHAVIOUR 159 



patriotism," etc. A man's possessions have come in the course 

 of evolution to include his family, serfs, vassals, dependants, 

 tenantry, etc., and in the long run all that stands for his nation 

 or '' empire " with the associated customs and traditions. On 

 the other hand, the property, or acquisitive urge, leads to pure 

 ownership, wealth, control of things in general, the miser, 

 '' laissez-faire," " cash-payment," dividends and rents and 

 capitalistic production. Capital is clearly an operation and a 

 little reflection will enable the student easily to regard it as the 

 7nonopoly of the niea?is of effectifig energy-transformations. In 

 modern communities the gregarious urge is in conflict with 

 individualism — that is, the expressions of the primitive life- 

 urges and the secondary acquisitiveness of modern man. 



58. ON TRUTH, GOODNESS AND BEAUTY 



Clearly we deal here with sublimations of primitive modes of 

 behaviour and their motives. 



Truth was in its inception the correspondence between 

 behaviour and its results. Something that was done availed 

 in giving power over inanimate nature and was seen always to 

 avail — some operations were constantly lalid ones. That three 

 straight lines of 3, 4 and 5 units of length, joined at their ends 

 enabled a builder to mark off the corner of a square (a right 

 angle) was such a continually valid operation. Thinking about 

 it led to the geometry of Euclid I, 47, a result expressing sublima- 

 tion. Thinking led to other analogous experiences that gave 

 satisfaction subliming into abstract truth. All such results 

 have a basis of validity in obtaining power over nature : thus 

 the equation pq — qp = ih/71, though no one really " under- 

 stands " it, expresses a mental operation to which we endeavour 

 to give a " physical meaning." " Knowledge is power." 



Goodness means (from the naive, biological standpoint) the 

 inhibitions of the primitive urges. We obviously beg the ques- 

 tion as to whether or not human nature is innately " good " — 

 since that problem is not a biological one. Kant seems to suggest 

 that human nature is, in itself " bad," that is, simply expresses 

 the primitive urges, which are individual ones. Evolution in 

 one way has made it " worse " since there has been sublimation 

 of these urges (in acquisitiveness, cruelty, reproductive excess). 



