38 W. G. Langzvorthy Taylor 



uous word "cause," but we may at least make an effort not to let 

 it hoodwink us. 



Since conjunctures exist in a hierarchy, since higher conjunc- 

 tures are progressively psychic, since what is psychic is charac- 

 terized by motion, and since motion is a matter of process and 

 function, it follows that the general circumstances that we call 

 a process, having motion and a psychic character, may, in turn, 

 be regarded as belonging to the environment when considered 

 relatively to a still higher process. This is the evolutionary 

 explanation of the analogy of society to a moving equilibrium. 

 Industry as a whole is advancing under the fixed conditions pre- 

 scribed by past advances, as explained in sec. Ill (Psychic Con- 

 juncture). The moving part is striving for equilibrium within 

 itself and with the static conditions already created ; and again, 

 within the general motion are found particular motions of indus- 

 tries and individual workers, which are conditioned by the general 

 motion. 



The environment and the process, then, are distinguished, not 

 by the mistaken idea that the one is more "cause" than the other, 

 but by the fact that the process is more recent and more psychic 

 than the environment. The process consists essentially of short- 

 time causes, while the environment consists of long-time causes. 

 Among the short-time causes, acting and reacting on each otl.er 

 as they do, some are relatively more psychic and some more 

 materialistic, as will be hereafter described ; but all short-time 

 causes tend to become psychic, or rather the psychic tends to 

 preponderate with progress. The process consists in the action 

 and reaction of relatively short-time causes. It contains the life 

 and movement so far as that is not already become relatively 

 static and environmental. 



Consider the supposition of a stationary state, made by Mill, 

 and the similar supposition of a normal equilibrium, made by Mar- 

 shall, in which "the aggregate expenses of production might be 

 found either by multiplying the marginal expenses by the number 

 of units of the commodity; or by adding together all the actual 

 expenses of production of its several parts, and adding in all 

 the rents earned by differential advantages of production. . . . 



33 



