CONSCIOUSNESS AND THE WILL 89 



thirsty, it will intensify in me the desire to slake my 

 thirst. The sensation is a quite normal one, but it 

 does not follow that it is best for me to respond to it 

 by taking the drink. Experience may have shown 

 me that the indulgence in drinks of this kind is 

 liable to be followed by undesirable consequences. 

 If, knowing of these consequences, I yield to the 

 temptation that has presented itself, I am acting in 

 opposition to a normal instinct of self-preservation, 

 and if this instinct is repeatedly defied, the error 

 in conduct may ultimately jeopardize my life and 

 so tend to eliminate an individual possessing a defec- 

 tive nervous system. For this hurtful conduct 

 clearly has its origin in a nervous system defective 

 in the sense that it shows a want of balance between 

 the reflexes subserving appetite and the higher 

 mechanisms of control. I cannot feel that blame 

 should attach to defects of this kind, or to the uncon- 

 trolled acts which come from them. They seem 

 rather the proper objects of pity and help. By help 

 I mean all rational restraining and controlling influ- 

 ences brought to bear from outside. The fact that 

 a human nervous system has repeatedly given evi- 

 dence of lack of stability in one or more directions 

 does not necessarily show that under favorable 

 environment a better balance may not be estab- 

 lished between the reflexes subserving appetite and 

 the higher mechanisms of inhibition located in the 

 cerebral cortex. But to establish this improved 

 balance, it is evident that we must look for outside 



