Page:Mind (New Series) Volume 8.djvu/552

 538 CKITICAL NOTICES: or social organism) its instincts are the typical modes in which it reacts as a system. To these "instinct actions " the reactions of the component cells, or " elements," are strictly subordinated, given normal stimuli. If, however, the stimuli be " hypernormal " (sic), the component elements will abandon typical reaction for a purely self-regarding line of behaviour. The stomach, for instance, if morbidly stimulated, will defend itself with excessive vigour to the inconvenience of the man. Such individualistic action on the part of an element is, according to Mr. Marshall's wide rendering of the term, " reasoned ". " Eeasoned action," in fact, is " instinct action " of a special type, namely, the self-preserving action of the part as against the good of the whole. Instinct and Eeason thus exclude one another just in so far as the interest of the system conflicts with that of the element when under abnormal conditions its action becomes "variant," that is to say, selfish. Such being the groundwork of Mr. Marshall's scheme, where, then, do Man and his Eeligion find a place therein ? The .man is the element, his social group the system. He has individualistic instincts (the chapter on these is one of the best in the book) and social instincts (whereof choice examples borrowed from the author's list are those that make for Imperialism and Economic Protection), together with sexual instincts that, facing as they do in opposite directions, namely, towards the gratification of passion and towards the cherishing of wife and child, occupy a sort of middle station. Given normal circumstances, then, his various " instinct actions " will, one and all, subserve the interest of the system, the social group. But man's circumstances never are normal. For one thing, the circumstances contemplated by Nature in organising and perpetuating man's racial instincts are a kind of abstract of those encountered by countless past genera- tions, an abstract constantly revised it may be, but one for ah 1 that never fully adequate to the circumstances of the moment. (Mr. Marshall is disappointingly reticent on the subject of Heredity, but this must be what he means by making the organisation and force of instincts so much a matter of their age.) Moreover, the social group is a low and incoherent class of organism at best, and its " elements " are easily tempted by stress of events into anarchy and "variation". Thus, despite Conscience, a sort of ethical indigestion, Eeason has a merry and a busy time of it, its function being simply and solely to " emphasise " all such "variant" in- fluences. On the other hand, however (and here we are strongly reminded of Mr. Kidd), a diverse tendency may be observed at work with intent to neutralise the sway of Eeason by emphasising the social instincts and inciting them to assert their natural and normal superiority. This tendency is Eeligion, itself an instinct, according to Mr. Marshall's terminology, but one of a peculiar regulative type, inasmuch as it is not, like one of the specific social instincts, an instinct to be good that is, to subserve the interest of the group but an instinct to try to be good. And at this point,