INTRODUCTION xxvii 



that reality is Spiritual or the creation of an unconditioned 

 mind a view equally repugnant to morality and experience 

 but that there is a spiritual element integral to the struc- 

 ture and movement of Reality, and that evolution is the 

 process by which this principle makes itself master of the 

 residual conditions which at first dominate its life and thwart 

 its efforts. It is of course true that the evolution whose 

 story we know is confined to a single planet, but it is argued 

 that this terrestrial evolution coincides in outline with the 

 conclusions of an analysis that is applicable to reality in 

 general. For further verification we must be content to 

 await further enquiry. 



The relation between the 'historical' and the philo- 

 sophical argument will be further considered in Chap. I., 

 but one point may be subjoined here. The conception of 

 Mind and its evolution differs fundamentally in accordance 

 with the position given to the rational element. Now in 

 the history of philosophy it was the rational that first 

 interested thinkers. They wished to know what was 

 reasonable and why, both in thought and in conduct. 

 Often, no doubt, they were led to speak as though thought 

 were, and action ought to be, purely rational, and they 

 neglected the study of the elements of impulse, instinct, 

 feeling, emotion that made up the groundwork of human j 

 psychology. In recent years the pendulum has swung the 

 other way. The irrational is the chief object of interest, 

 one may almost say of adulation. Indeed it becomes 

 almost difficult to get a hearing for any theory which still 

 regards reason as a good name for that which distinguishes 

 man from the lower animals. Everyone takes a pride in 

 showing his superiority to mere reasoning, and there are 

 some who are at least successful in demonstrating their 

 freedom from any bias in favour of rational methods. The 

 causes of this curious reaction would repay an investigation 



