CHAPTER V 



HEKEDITY AND ENVIRONMENT 



Too MUCH and too little have been said about he- 

 redity : too much if mere physical heredity only is 

 meant; too little if spiritual heredity also is con- 

 sidered. It is one of the unsolved problems, and 

 agreement concerning it has not been reached. 

 Perhaps it has never been properly conceived. 

 Some exalt it to a supreme position ; others think 

 it may be overcome and nullified by environment. 

 Lewes in his "Life of Goethe" says: "It is 

 profoundly false to say that * character is formed 

 by circumstances, ' unless the phrase with unphilo- 

 sophic equivocation include the whole complexity 

 of circumstances, from creation downward. Char- 

 acter is to circumstances what the organism is to 

 the outer world : living in it, but not specially de- 

 termined by it. ... Every biologist knows that 

 circumstance has a modifying influence; but he 

 also knows th#t modifications are possible only 

 within certain limits. . . . Goethe truly says 

 that if Eaphael were to paint peasants at an inn, 

 he could not help making them look like apostles, 

 whereas Teniers would make his apostles look like 

 Dutch boors. Instead, therefore, of saying that 



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