THE PROBLEM 



ened and motivated by the invisible, 

 though strong, fibers of personal ac- 

 countability for conduct woven Into the 

 web of our lives either explicitly and con- 

 sciously or implicitly and perhaps unwit- 

 tingly. The question before us is whether 

 this appearance of freedom is an illusion, 

 a myth, a superstition; or is it a real factor 

 in human conduct, capable of being articu- 

 lated with the general body of experience 

 of nature (including human nature) and 

 so of holding a place in our scientific 

 thinking? 



These big problems of human life — 

 how are we controlled and how do we con- 

 trol our environments and ourselves — are 

 solved, thoughtfully or heedlessly, by each 

 of us in some fashion that is adequate for 

 his daily needs, else human life and civili- 

 zation could not endure. The earlier and 

 simpler theoretic solutions have broken 

 down under the stress of increasing com- 

 plexity of living and more widespread 

 critical analysis of the facts as they are 

 experienced. The result is that those to 

 whom we look for guidance In fundamen- 

 tal matters of personal and social adjust- 

 ment are more sharply divided than ever 

 Into hostile camps and the rest of us are 



[15] 



