68 THE HUMANIZING OP THE BRUTE. 



ways place its egg precisely in the requisite folds, but 

 would at least, once in a while, deposit them else- 

 where, on a more convenient spot. But, does this 

 perception warrant the conclusion that R. betulae acts 

 with consciousness of finality? Undoubtedly not. 

 For an action that is guided by "purpose" and per- 

 formed with "consciousness" demands far more than 

 a me re combination of the phantasms of things which 

 are related to each other as means and end. This very 

 relation of end and -means must be clearly recognized 

 as such. Or, as St. Thomas puts it: "The perfect 

 knowledge of an end demands not only the perception 

 of the object which constitutes that end, but its recog- 

 nition as an end and its relation to the means used to 

 attain it." But this evidently implies the formal 

 cognition of finality, the clear perception of the ab- 

 stract relation between means and end. When a man 

 wants to enjoy his breakfast with consciousness of final- 

 ity, it is not sufficient to combine in his imagination 

 the concrete things before him and his concrete im- 

 pulse to eat them, a combination which naturally pro- 

 duces an agreeable feeling and calls forth an appro- 

 piate exercise of the limbs towards the breakfast 

 table, but he must understand the abstract relation 

 between the savory beef-steak as the means and the 

 satisfaction of his hunger as the end, and guided by 

 this cognition he must eat his breakfast. 



Therefore, every action that is guided by "purpose' ' 

 and directed by "consciousness of purpose" presup- 

 poses as least requisite the cognition of means and end as 

 such, of relations as such, and consequently implies 

 universal ideas. Thus far few of our opponents will find 



