324 THE QUALITATIVE PKOBLEM 



degree of certainty than in the case of physical characters we 

 shall arrive at some idea as to how mental characters have evolved. 

 This, however, still leaves unanswered the problem as to how far 

 the evolution of mental characters accounts for what we call 

 history. To attack this problem it is necessary to consider how 

 the environment acts as a stimulus upon the mind, conditions the 

 degree to which and the direction in which the mind is used, and 

 thus leads to the building up of tradition. In Chapter XIX we 

 consider the nature of human mental endowment and the manner 

 in which tradition is built up and handed on. In Chapter XX 

 we consider the nature of the environment under which human 

 mental activities have been exerted. This will enable us in 

 Chapter XXI to survey the broad facts of history and to come 

 to some conclusion as to the parts played respectively by the 

 changes in human mental endowment, by the direct influence of 

 the environment upon the mental faculties, and by its influence 

 as a stimulus upon the exercise of these faculties. In a concluding 

 chapter the results of the whole inquiry will be summed up. 



