The Interpretation of Experience 79 



Hence, though Evolution may give the form to the process 

 of cosmic development, the content may either progress or re- 

 gress, may be " right and good " or " wrong and bad " from the 

 point of view of formal perfection or complete adjustment, 

 merely qua process. Evolution works either way. It does not 

 follow, however, that what seems to us as regression may not 

 after all be a part of the general process of nature's advance, 

 and only seem regress from the human point of view, which is 

 limited by the conditions of human intelligence. When the truth 

 of form and the truth of facts are synonymous then the condi- 

 tions of ideal teleology are fulfilled. There is then no popular 

 distinction of phenomena and processes into " artificial " and 

 " natural," of which the former relate to the operations and pro- 

 ductions of man, while the latter refer to nature and to God. The 

 world of nature possesses potentialities which man may actualise, 

 create, develop, or liberate, much as the chemist liberates chemical 

 substances and discovers, literally, new elements. The principle 

 of the conservation of energy demands a belief in the potentiality 

 of nature. Idealism demands a belief in the interpretative power 

 of humanity. 



So long as we have the phenomena of the world as elements 

 in the problem, so long will mechanical terms have to enter into 

 our interpretation. But so long as we have faith in the ultimate 

 purposes of the universe, so long will idealistic method interpret 

 the results of our experience. The fact is determined mechanic- 

 ally in many instances but the end or purpose or result is deter- 

 mined teleologically. This may apply only to certain cases, e. g., 

 my walking to a certain destination is determined by the direc- 

 tion of the streets, by the number of the people in the way, by 

 wind, rain, etc., but my destination, which logically precedes my 

 action, is itself determined only by my idea, or by the system of 

 purposes which constitute the directive element in my experience. 

 The whole process of experience consists in the constantly pro- 

 gressive interrelation of the mechanical conditions of experience 

 and the conscious recognition of the teleological ideas that are 

 involved in any process of human thought. 



