SOURCES AND ENDS OF HUMAN EFFORT 331 



It is generally recognized that many animal reac- 

 tions, such as the typical tropism, reflex, or instinct, 

 have both a backward and a forward reference. The 

 forward reference we express biologically by saying 

 that these activities are in general adaptive, that is, 

 the animal tends to react in each frequently recurring 

 situation in fixed modes that favor the preservation 

 of the individual or the species. This teleological be- 

 havior is not directed by any awareness of the ends 

 to be attained, but the organization has been so 

 shaped by its past history (the backward reference) 

 that it can do no other. 



This backward reference involves no mystic forces. 

 In evolutionary history and personal development the 

 structure of the body has been shaped by biological 

 processes (some of which are well known) in adjust- 

 ment with the world in which it lives. The vital pro- 

 cess is at basis just this adjustment, and the structure 

 of the body at any moment has been determined by 

 the history of previous racial and individual adjust- 

 ments. And this structure, in its turn, determines the 

 action system of the individual at that moment. 



The action system of the individual is, according- 

 ly, the dynamic expression of his inner nature, and 

 both of these have been biologically determined. The 

 inner nature (that is, the protoplasmic organization) 

 being what it is, the behavior is largely predetermined 

 by the existing structure, and reactions to stimula- 

 tion tend to follow the established patterns — tropism, 



