SOCIAL LIFE 97 



7. In the development of man the change of posture Deveiop- 

 which permitted the hands to be used for making m*& 

 things, and the long period of infancy and youth which societ y 

 gave opportunities for education or "social inheritance," 

 necessarily implied a certain weakness. As compared 



with other animals, man was a feeble beast, at first much 

 greater in his possibilities than in his performance. 

 Had he not become socialized, he must have become 

 extinct ; only through socialization could he realize his 

 potential powers and turn his weakness into strength. 

 The development of human society was guided by con- 

 scious purpose, and hence was progressive. No com- 

 bination of mere instincts could have developed fast 

 enough to save him, nor would it have left him free to 

 advance. Ant societies have been doing for at least 

 two million years what they do today; their social 

 system is static and unprogressive. 



8. The human social unit, formed at first for protec- The free- 

 tion against the elements and from enemies, developed JaJJiidt 

 through the specialization of the individual. This obligation 



. ,. . to decide 



specialization, however, was much more plastic and 

 variable than that of the ants. It left a large element 

 of choice, and found expression in psychological rather 

 than structural peculiarities. No one could call into 

 being powers which were beyond the limits of his or- 

 ganism, limits set at the moment of fertilization. Yet 

 each one found himself potentially able to do any one of 

 many incompatible things, and hence not only had 

 "freedom of choice," but was compelled to choose. 

 The freedom he did not possess, and which the ant es- 

 sentially has, was that of escaping decisions, of evading 

 personal responsibility. The philosophical postulate 

 that actually each choice made is determined by ante- 

 cedent events, and hence not "free," may find logical 



