122 Nature's Sifting 



vidualistic animal is as much a fiction as is homo 

 homini lupus. And many an animal has gone far in 

 subliming the struggle for existence into an endeavor 

 after well-being, which is the great task of civiliza- 

 tion. 



In the course of organic evolution, as we have said, 

 the root-appetite of hunger has formed the ground- 

 work of many shoots (reaction-tendencies, appeten- 

 cies, desires, instincts, and so on) along the self- 

 preservative line of evolution. These have stood the 

 test of Nature's sifting (Natural Selection), and 

 they have blossomed into animal virtues, such as 

 courage, alertness, pertinacity, and patience. That 

 these have played their useful part in the competitive 

 and environment-mastering modes of the struggle 

 for existence is plain to every Darwinian naturalist. 

 One of man's steps has been to make ideals of the 

 self-preservative virtues, lifting fit behavior to the 

 level of ethical conduct. That these self-preservative 

 ideals are in the main justifiable in the light of higher 

 values is as certain as the fact that Nature has con- 

 sistently pronounced judgment against every form 

 of slackness, every form of "the unlit lamp and the 

 ungirt loin." And if the critic points to parasites, he 

 must notice that they bear the stigmata of degeneracy 

 in proportion to their surrender of independence. 



Similarly the root appetite of sex has formed the 

 groundwork of many shoots (reaction-tendencies, 

 appetencies, desires, instincts, and so on) along the 

 other-regarding line of evolution. These have stood 

 the test of Nature's sifting and they have blossomed 



