Translation from Von Hartmann 105 



3. That the impressing of the predisposition upon the 

 individual from whom it is inherited can only be effected 

 by long practice, consequently the instinct without 

 auxiliary mechanism^ is the originating cause of the 

 auxiliary mechanism. 



4. That none of those instinctive actions that are per- 

 formed rarely, or perhaps once only, in the lifetime of 

 any individual — ^as, for example, those connected with 

 the propagation and metamorphoses of the lower forms 

 of life, and none of those instinctive omissions of action, 

 neglect of which necessarily entails death — can be con- 

 ceived as having become engrained into the character 

 through habit ; the ganglionic constitution, therefore, that 

 predisposes the animal towards them must have been 

 fashioned purposively. 



5. That even the presence of an auxiliary mechanism^ 

 does not compel the unconscious to a particular corre- 

 sponding mode of instinctive action, but only predisposes 

 it. This is shown by the possibiUty of departure from the 

 normal type of action, so that the unconscious purpose is 

 always stronger than the ganglionic constitution, and 

 takes any opportunity of choosing from several similar 

 possible courses the one that is handiest and most con- 

 venient to the constitution of the individual. 



We now approach the question that I have reserved 

 for our final one, — Is there, namely, actually such a thing 

 as instinct,^ or are all so-called instinctive actions only 

 the results of conscious deliberation ? 



In support of the second of these two views, it may be 



^ " Also der Instinct ohne Hulfsmechanismus die Ursache der 

 Entstehung des Hulfsmechanismus ist." — Philosophy of the Un- 

 conscious, 3d ed., p. 79. 



" " Dass auch der fertige Hulfsmechanismus das Unbewusste 

 nicht etwa zu dieser bestimmten Instincthandlung necessirt, 

 sondern blosse pradisponirt." — Philosophy of the Unconscious, 

 3d ed., p. 79. 



^ " Giebt es einen wirklichen Instinct, oder sind die sogenannten 

 Instincthandlungen nur Resultate bewusster Ueberlegung ? " — Philo- 

 sophy of the Unconscious, 3d ed., p. 79. 



