THE HUMANIZING OF THE BRUTE. 13 



being the result of a number of reasonings and 

 conclusions, this is taken as a cogent proof that such 

 reasoning and conclusion actually occurred. And 

 thus all the psychic activity is resolved into logical 

 reflections. " x ) 



The above mentioned reasons, however, do not 

 offer us the final and fundamental explanation for the 

 persistent tendency of assigning a difference between 

 man and animal, not of kind but of degree. 



The assumption of animal intelligence, as every 

 other error, is essentially rooted in the will. It does 

 not require much depth or breadth of intellect to see 

 that the humanizing of the brute is a mere corollary 

 of materialistic evolution. Materialism denies the 

 existence of a vital principle apart from matter, and 

 maintains that life is merely the resultant of attracting 

 and repelling forces. Everything, therefore, is pure 

 matter, and there can be no essential difference be- 

 tween the animal soul and that of man, since neither 

 can exist independently of matter. But if there is no 

 essential difference between the animating principles 

 of man and brute, why assume any between the facul- 

 ties and manifestations of these principles? In other 

 words, if human actions are guided by intelligence, 

 the same holds true for those of animals. 



It follows that the theory of animal intel- 

 ligence is the natural outcome of materialism, and as 

 such must be traced back to the same source from 

 which materialism ultimately springs. To speak 

 plainly, the first promulgators of "animal intelligence" 



1 ) W. Wundt, Vorlesungen ueber die Menschen=und 

 Tierseele, 3. ed, 1897, p. 387. 



