Page:An introduction to ethics.djvu/59

 out of instinctive wants, and his highest institutions have been formed in response to persistent instinctive needs, the proper conclusion to be drawn is, not that these ideals and associations are, after all, mean and poor, but that the instincts from which they have developed are themselves valuable and worthy.

It is of importance, then, in tracing the development of character, to ask, What are instincts, How do they contribute to the formation of man's ideals and institutions, and How may they be educated?

§ 1. What are Instincts? In ordinary conversation we frequently speak of instincts. We refer to the animal's instinct of self-preservation, and the child's instinctive trustfulness. We say that this man has an instinct for friendship, and that one an instinct for religion. We speak of our instinctive liking for a new acquaintance. What we seem to mean by instinct, in common parlance is simply something that is there to start with which we cannot explain. An instinctive mode of behaviour is a way in which a child naturally acts. An instinct is not artificial; it cannot be made. Something like this is the meaning which the man in the street attaches to instinct. On the whole, it is quite right; but it requires to be defined a little more precisely.

Instincts are certainly inherited. They form part