Page:An introduction to ethics.djvu/74

 CHAPTER IV.

IMPULSE AND DESIRE.

§ 1. Impulse and Instinct. We have seen that instincts lead to certain types of action. The pugnacious instinct, for example, is responsible for the readiness of the normal boy to fight on the slightest provocation, or on none at all. The instinct of pugnacity gives rise to the impulse to strike. Again, the instinct of curiosity immediately prompts the child to explore with its hands the object that excites its interest. Or the instinct will drive the child to investigate the fire, until a sharp lesson teaches it that some impulses must be restrained. In every case impulse is intimately connected with instinct. Impulsive behaviour may be defined as instinct in action. An impulse is the executive aspect of an instinct.

The actions of the young child are almost all impulsive. They are done on the spur of the moment. Offer two apples of different sizes to a young child, and he will at once take the larger one. The impulse simply exerts itself without