NATURE S GOOD: A CONVERSATION 43 



the horse to say that because Nature is so consti 

 tuted as to produce results of all types of value, 

 therefore Nature is actuated by regard for differ 

 ences of value, ^{ature, till it produces a being 

 who strives and wno thinks in order that he may 

 strive more effectively, does not know whether it 

 cares more for justice or for cruelty, more for the 

 ravenous wolf -like competition of the struggle for 

 existence, or for the improvements incidentally in 

 troduced through that struggle. Literally it-4ias 

 noniind ofits_jiwji^ Nor would the mere intro 

 duction oT a consciousness that pictured indiffer 

 ently the scene out of which consciousness devel 

 oped, add one iota of reason for attributing eulo- 

 gistically to Nature regard for value. But when 

 the sentient organism, having experienced natural 

 values, good and bad, begins to select, to prefer, 

 and to make battle for its preference ; and in order 

 thafiFlnay make the most gallant fight possible 

 picks out and gathers together in perception 

 and thought what_is_ faynrable tn its aims and 

 whlit^61&amp;gt;Tire,^h^ has at last 



acMeTecTsignificant regard for good. And this is 

 the stie-4hin^^i^tHe birth of intelligence. For 

 thetoMmglm end in view and the selecting and or 

 ganizing out of the natural flux, on the basis of 

 this end, conditions that are means, is intelligence. 

 Not, then, when Nature produces health or effi 

 ciency or complexity does Nature exhibit regard 



