240 ORGANIC EVOLUTION CONSIDERED 



right and wrong, that he was totally ignorant of the 

 meaning of that "imperious word ought," that he 

 had no self -consciousness, nor idea of individuality, 

 nor general ideas, etc., for these latter faculties imply 

 mental powers "advanced to a high standard" and 

 " the use of a perfect language." 



Here, then, it is admitted that Self-consciousness, 

 Individuality, Abstraction, General Ideas, etc., are 

 not possessed by the higher animals, for the existence 

 of these faculties depends upon "other highly ad- 

 vanced intellectual faculties," and these again are the 

 result of the continued use of a highly developed 

 language. 



According to this, the highest human faculties are 

 the offspring of other highly developed faculties, and 

 the latter are the offspring of language. 



We do not know that the native strength of the 

 intellectual faculties is due to the language of ances- 

 tors. We cannot estimate natural ability of children 

 by the vocabularies of their parents. An extensive 

 education requires a large vocabulary, but the birth 

 of high intellectual faculties is more than the birth of 

 words. We do not know that the size of the brain is 

 in any way dependent on language. Ideas precede 

 words, and faculties precede ideas. Ideas invent 

 words. If the ape had ideas he would invent lan- 

 guage to express them — especially if he is the ances- 

 tor of man, who has invented a great multitude of 

 languages. 



It may be claimed that language greatly contributes 

 to mental activity, that this improves the brain, and 

 that this improvement is hereditary. We do not 

 know to what extent this may be true, but if it is 

 true, it does not dispose of the difficulty. The ques- 

 tion is not how can faculties be cultivated and 

 strengthened, but how can they originate? 



