34 6 The Study of Animal Life APP. 



(d) Among many monkeys society has begun. Families com- 

 bine for protection, and the combination favours the development 

 both of emotional and intellectual strength. Surely " man did not 

 make society, society made man." 



B. Our Relation to Biology 



.6. The Utility Of Science. As life is short, all too short for 

 learning the art of living, it 'is well that we should criticise our 

 activities, and favour those which seem to yield most return of 

 health and wealth and wisdom. 



We are so curious about all kinds of things, so omnivorously 

 hungry for information, that the most trivial department of know- 

 ledge or science may afford exercise and mental satisfaction to its 

 votaries. The interest and pleasantness of science is therefore no 

 criterion. 



Nor can we be satisfied with the assertion that science should 

 be pursued for science's sake. As in regard to the kindred dictum, 

 "art for art's sake," we require further explanation some ideal of 

 science and art. For it is not evident that knowledge is a good in 

 itself, especially if that knowledge be gained at the expense of the 

 emotional wealth which is often associated with healthy ignorance. 



Nor is it safe to judge scientific activity by the material results 

 which the application of knowledge to action may yield. For a seed 

 of knowledge may lie dormant for centuries before it sends its shoots 

 into life, and many of the material results of applied science are not 

 unmixed blessings. Moreover, too narrow a view may be taken of 

 material results, so-called " necessaries " of existence may be exalted 

 over the "super-necessaries" essential to life; in short, what lies 

 about the mouth the nose, the ears, the eyes, the brain may be 

 forgotten. 



We are nearer the truth if we combine the different standards of 

 science, and unify them by reference to the human ideal. 1 The utility 

 of science, and of biology among the other kinds of knowledge, is 

 to supply a basis of fact 



(a) For the practice of useful arts (such as hygiene and 



education), and for the guidance of conduct : 



(b) For the satisfaction of our desire to understand and enjoy 



the world and our life in it. 



7. Practical Justification of Biology. The world of life 



is so web-like that almost any part may touch or thrill us. It is 

 therefore well that we should learn what we can about it. 



On plants we are very dependent for food and drink, for shelter 



1 See Ruskin, The Eagles Nest (1880). 



