CHAPTER VI 



THE PROBLEM OF THE WILL 



The question which underlies all morality is this 

 — Is man really a responsible being, or is he the 

 mere product of his ancestry and a combination of 

 circumstances ? Does he act automatically accord- 

 ing to tendencies inherited or impressed upon him, 

 or is there within each man something other than 

 the ancestral and the external factors ? The pre- 

 sumption certainly seems to be against the latter 

 alternative. If heredity determines the physical 

 features ; if it shows itself in the temper, the tem- 

 perament, and the intellectual individuality, what 

 reason is there to suppose that the will maintains 

 a lonely independence ? Indeed, what is the will ? 

 Is it a faculty, or department, of the personality ? 

 or is it an individual possession ? If it is the man 

 choosing, then all that influences the man must 

 influence the will. If he is born with a love of 

 the beautiful, he will choose to be surrounded by 

 things which will satisfy that taste. On the other 

 hand, if his parentage is vicious, and the streams 

 of heredity are bad, he will naturally, unless some 



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