OF THE WILL 361 



intelligence necessarily involve others in our wills and consequently in 

 our actions. 



If the scope of the present work permitted, I might adduce many 

 instances in support of these observations ; I might even make 

 remarks that would not be without interest. 



I might show, for instance, that while man derives great advan- 

 tages from his highly developed intellectual faculties, the human 

 species in general suffers from them at the same time considerable 

 disadvantages ; since these faculties confer the means for doing harm 

 as easily as good, and their general effect is always to the disadvantage 

 of those individuals who make least use of their intelligence, and this 

 is necessarily the case of the greater number. It would appear there- 

 fore that the main evil in this respect resides in the extreme inequality 

 of intelUgence between individuals, an inequality that cannot be 

 entirely destroyed. Nevertheless it may be inferred with still greater 

 certainty that the thing most important for the improvement and 

 happiness of man is to diminish as far as possible this enormous 

 inequality, since it is the origin of most of the evils to which he is 

 exposed. 



Let us now endeavour to ascertain the physical causes at work in 

 acts of the understanding : we shall try at least to determine what 

 are the necessary conditions of the organisation in order that these 

 wonderful phenomena may be produced. 



