CHAPTER V 

 HUMAN FREEDOM 



Human conduct, including human think- 

 ing which is one of the mainsprings of our 

 behavior, follows in causal sequence just 

 as truly as does the behavior of a soap bub- 

 ble or a reflex arc; but the causal sequence 

 is very different in the three cases. Each 

 of the mechanisms involved is free to work 

 out and bring to expression its own inner 

 nature except in so far as the dynamic pat- 

 tern of its organization is distorted or 

 obstructed. 



The organization of any man at any 

 moment, as we have seen, is the result of 

 the interaction of the original nature 

 (heredity) and the second nature (nur- 

 ture). None of his adult characteristics 

 were present as such in the original germ 

 cell within which the causal sequence which 

 we call a personality began; but this germ 

 cell was endowed with the potentiality to 

 develop into the particular* person that I 

 call me or you (that Is, to unfold Its orig- 

 inal nature) only under the influence of 



[57] 



