292 THE PLAY OF ANIMALS. 



of a conscious illusion. It is true, all the same, that 

 activity for its own sake is not enough for me, and I am 

 not interested in a game unless it excites my amour 

 pro pre. I must have a difficulty to overcome, a rival to 

 surpass, or at least be able to make progress/^ * Grosse 

 says the same thing : " Play stands as a connecting link 

 between practical and aesthetic attainment. It is distin- 

 guished from art by the fact that it strives constantly for 

 the attainment of some external aim, and from work in 

 that its satisfaction arises not from the value of its re- 

 sults, but from the achievement itself." The relation of 

 the three can be illustrated by calling work a line, play 

 a spiral, and art a circle." f 



While these passages are conclusive as to the fact 

 that play should never be characterized as aimless ac- 

 tivity, Grosse's utterance might very easily give rise to 

 false generalizations. In my opinion, adequate psy- 

 chological definitions of work, play, and art are not 

 to be produced with such " neatness and despatch " as 

 Grosse attempts. 



Play is easy enough to define objectively, as prac- 

 tice in distinction from the exercise of important in- 

 stincts. But in regard to its psychological accompani- 

 ments in the playing subject the case is different. Here 

 we must suppose a progressive development from mere 

 satisfaction of instinctive impulse (where the act is per- 

 formed neither for its own sake nor for the sake of an 

 <3xternal aim, but simply in obedience to hereditary pro- 

 pensity) through what is subjectively considered akin to 

 work, up to make-believe activity with an external aim as 

 its second stage. Finally, as the outward aim gives way 



* Of. K. Lansre's Bewusste Selbsttauschimg. 



I E. Grosse, Die Anfange der Kunst, 1894, p. 47. 



