xii ESSAYS OF A BIOLOGIST 



ends and aims have for the most part and in the bulk 

 of men remained the same ; it is only the methods 

 of pursuing them that have changed. True or 

 conscious purpose comes in and aids the unconscious 

 biological forces already at v7orL 



Hov^ever, to most men at some time, and to some 

 men at most times, these purely biological ends and 

 purposes of life become altogether inadequate. They 

 perceive the door opened to a thousand possibilities 

 higher than this, all demanding to be satisfied. The 

 realization of what for v^ant of a better term we can 

 call spiritual values becomes the true end of life, 

 superposed on and dominating the previous biological 

 values. 



When civilizations and societies are organized so 

 that their prime purpose is the pursuit of spiritual 

 values, then life will have passed another critical 

 point in its evolution ; as always, what has gone before 

 is necessary as foundation for what is coming, and 

 the biological conditions must be fulfilled before the 

 new and higher edifice can be built ; but, as when 

 the mammals superseded the reptiles, so this change 

 of aim will mean the rise of a new type to be the 

 dominant and highest form of life. 



This can only come about so far as man consciously 

 attempts to make it come about. His evolution up 

 to the present can be summed up in one sentence — 



