Human Consciousness 391 



other conscious being in the world also divides the world 

 thus; but only the self-conscious beings know that they do 

 it. Animal consciousness knows the world in its way, but 

 the human mind not only knows the world, but knows that it 

 knows it. Now in this there is a new birth of perception, 

 recognizing community of interest, and a new motive to 

 co-operative conduct. 



And instead of merely possessing a set of impulses aris- 

 ing from heredity and education and experiences, all of 

 which things are impulses based upon the past, this new 

 self -consciousness begins a mind which concerns itself with 

 a future that is not the near future which mere volition and 

 will have in view, which is about to become present ; but the 

 remote future where last final consequences will develop ; and 

 in which the other minds will participate, as they now 

 participate in the consideration of it. All this is, however, 

 subject to the earlier law that new and higher principles are 

 built upon or added to the old and do not supersede them 

 or nullify them. It is thus seen that not only is the old 

 principle of co-operative activity reaffirmed, but it enters into 

 a new and higher phase. The self-conscious mind may 

 select conduct, with foreknowledge of the true path, instead 

 of following blindly all avenues, and finding survival only 

 in a few, as does the consciousness of lower order. With 

 this possession it becomes possible to face the forces of 

 nature and the hostilities of environment, and to shape a 

 collective course or policy by which these hostilities may be 

 mitigated, and some of them, which arise in destructive 

 competition, may be ended entirely. The evils of destruc- 

 tive rivalry are now seen, by the perception of the fact 



