CONTINUITY OF BERGSON'S THOUGHT l8l 



instrument is part of its body. Does the instinct make the organ, or 

 the organ the instinct ? We do not know. Either view seems reason- 

 able. Instinct and the organizing work of living matter seem two 

 names for the same thing. The most marvelous instincts of the 

 insect only develop its special structure into movements. Indeed 

 when social life among ants, bees, etc., differentiates function, we find 

 also different structures. Thus in its perfection instinct is a faculty 

 of using and even of constructing organized instruments ; while intelli- 

 gence perfected makes unorganized instruments. 



Instinct, like intellect, has its own advantages and defects. 

 Instinct finds the appropriate instrument at hand, without taking 

 thought: the instrument repairs itself. It is complex in detail, but 

 very simple in function. It does one thing, and retains one form. A 

 machine made by intelligence is often imperfect, cumbersome and 

 troublesome, but it can vary a great deal, and do all sorts of things in 

 all sorts of places and seasons. It also creates new needs and works 

 profound changes on the society that produces it, while the instinct 

 of ants and of bees keeps them in a narrow circle. 



If the life-force were unlimited, it might have developed instinct 

 and intelligence together, and to any extent in the same organisms. 

 But it had to choose one of these two ways, and so it either acts 

 directly through an organized instrument, or indirectly through an 

 unorganized instrument. The two modes diverge more and more as 

 they go on — -neither understanding the other — but yet they always 

 have a relation because of the common stem of which they are the 

 branches. The insect shows gleams of intelligence in its choice of 

 place, time and materials; and the most intellectual of the human 

 race have the constant great need of relying on their instincts. In 

 the higher vertebrates, we see a tendency to intellect. 



Man in the prehistoric world must have been much at the mercy 

 of enemies, but he proceeded along very perilous lines to intelligence, 

 and by this risk achieved remote results of the highest value. 



How far is instinct conscious ? Plants probably have practically 

 no feeling. It is likely in animals that where action is free and 

 unrestrained there is little feeling just as in our automatic actions 



