Page:Philosophical Review Volume 1.djvu/549

No. 5.] from occasion to occasion; what is their present process of individual make-up, and what their biological origin in general, — all these things, I hope, will now appear somewhat more comprehensible to the student of modern science.

For our more massive aesthetic groupings, — those lying at the base of our emotions and deeper passions, — a few more words are needed. From the first we may surmise that here we have more to do with the inherited motor characteristics of our aesthetic senses. By reference to our instincts in general, we may appreciate this more clearly. Spalding has thrown light on their complicated nature. Certain complex outer influences must be brought into proper accord with inner conditions equally complex, or the instinct is forever inherited in vain. The chick may flap his wings at certain periods, and see men or hawks at others; but not unless the chick see the man at a particular post-natal period, and his wings be free to flap at that particular conjunction of events, will it execute that definite and complex set of movements which betrays his inherited fear of man.

The instinct seems to be a complex motor-idea inherited as a whole. It never goes off, unless it be fired as a whole. When it is fired, we have reason to believe that it is felt as a whole. For myself, this, in connection with the theories of this paper, seems to bring the nature of our inherited emotions more clearly home to me. In life's varied experiences, more or less of our aesthetic paths may be knit up into the more complicated associations which we have described in connection with the 'objective' senses. But on the occurrence of proper conditions of stimulation, these should not hinder us from experiencing the purer instinctive 'wholes' which we have inherited, or the as pure and even more massive wholes which may be occasioned by more diffusive stimulation of our inherited primary tracts in general. Such survived efforts and struggles, as it were, transacted by our unknown ancestors in terms of their primary motor sense, are precisely what I seem to feel when I experience these deeper passions and emotions, whether pleasant or unpleasant.

A final point remains to be considered. Though I believe