328 ADAPTATION AND PROGRESS 



become quasi-personalities, and as such are a second fruitage of 

 cosmic evolution. Now out of these three lines of development 

 of experience and appreciation, intensive personal, extensive 

 personal, and social, together with the realization that develop- 

 ment has come through struggle, issues the belief that cosmic 

 evolution has not in any of its phases been the mere outcome of 

 the interaction of blind forces but rather the expression of Intelli- 

 gence and Love. 



The " how " of the process suggests the " whither " and 

 " why." If the phenomenal order is a universe, a cosmos, i. e., 

 if there is a world-order dependent on infinite intelligence rather 

 than a world-disorder which is the outcome of the permutations 

 and combinations of blind forces, a study of the process should 

 suggest its goal. Although our discussion has brought out 

 several suggested goals, the outcome of it would seem to indicate 

 that nothing higher has been formulated than the increasing 

 adaptation of men in societies to their physical and spiritual environ- 

 ment, this adaptation being interpreted in terms of power and 

 fullness of life, attained and expressed in its highest associational 

 forms in reflective innovation, reflective imitation and exempli- 

 f action, with emphasis, too, on the affectional nature and on ideal- 

 ization expressing itself in art in its varied forms and in religion. 



As to the true type of religion, we have noted in our survey 

 many diverse theories from the "Worship of Humanity" 

 (Comte), and a mere "Appreciation of the Cosmos" (Ward), 

 to a " Living Faith in a Self-Conscious, Personal, World- 

 Ground " (Bowne, Baldwin), while others say that there is no 

 one true religion but that like everything else religion is relative 

 to the stage of social development and environmental conditions 

 of a group. The philosophy of social-personalism lends itself 

 easily to the belief that the ultimate religion will be along lines 

 suggested by Bowne and Baldwin, with emphasis, however, on 

 its social aspects and its pragmatic warrant. In any case a 

 pragmatic test is provided in the way that the religion of a group 

 influences its associational life, and in the survival and spread of 

 the religion either by the success of the group thus inspired in 

 possessing the earth or the success of the associational achieve- 



