BIOLOGICAL CONTROL 



somewhere. It certainly does not Involve 

 predeterminism In the sense of foreordi- 

 natlon as theologians use this word, nor In 

 the sense of preformation as biologists use 

 this word. 



In the orderly sequence of vital proc- 

 esses we say the present act Is the result 

 of the preceding members of the series. 

 We say again that the present act Is a 

 causal agent (part of the causal complex) 

 which determines the next succeeding act 

 in the same sense In which It was deter- 

 mined. It Is a determining agent In the 

 sense that the succeeding history would 

 be different if it were not there, and In 

 this sense It Is a necessary component of 

 this particular causal sequence. A new 

 causal factor enters at every turn. This 

 process Is orderly, lawful, and Involves no 

 disruption of natural causal sequences as 

 biologists generally view them. 



Having by this digression attempted to 

 clarify what we mean by causally deter- 

 mined behavior, we see that our mechan- 

 istic determinism resolves itself into a pro- 

 gressive determining. 



Certain causal agencies which bear an 

 obvious relation to particular processes 

 are spoken of as controls of those actlvi- 



[23] 



