IX MIND AS AN ORGAN OF WHOLES 233 



Not only are no two human beings alike; their separate 

 characteristic individualities are what is most distinctive 

 of them and what they are known by and what principally 

 determines their relations in life. There is in each human 

 being not only a peculiar blending of characters but also a 

 sense of the uniqueness of this blending, a sense of separate 

 and specific selfhood which constitutes his or her very 

 essence. Humans are not mere units (as material bodies), 

 they are also individuals; they are not merely individuals 

 (like organisms), but also unique selves. Thus is the 

 fundamental principle of individuation finally consummated 

 in the human. The human being is a conscious self, and 

 this selfhood becomes in turn the basis of his Personality, 

 which is the supreme structure yet reached in Evolution 

 and with which we shall deal in the next chapter. It is a 

 striking fact that in the holistic advance as I have sketched 

 it in previous chapters the dominant note and feature of 

 progress is order, with an ever-increasing measure of regula- 

 tion and co-ordination and control so as to make that order 

 effective; while the feature of individuation is comparatively 

 insignificant. As old as structural order itself in the 

 evolution of the universe, and an inseparable accompani- 

 ment of it at all stages, individuation as an evolutionary 

 variation remains in the background, so to say, until the 

 emergence of Mind leads to a rapid and indeed phenomenal 

 outgrowth of this hitherto minor feature. The appearance 

 of Mind, therefore, especially at the human level where it 

 is most marked, seems to constitute a break in the even 

 and regular advance of Evolution, and to mark a new 

 departure of a very far-reaching character. The fact is 

 that in and with Mind a significant change takes place in 

 the relative importance of the two fundamental aspects 

 in Holism. While the aspect of order and regulation 

 continues to develop and grow, the other aspect of indi- 

 viduation pushes relatively much more to the front, and in 

 the latest human phase of evolution not only assumes a 

 dominant importance in itself, but also begins to exert a 

 far-reaching influence on the other feature of order and 



