We can

for the one without any conscious processes. determine whether an organism is high in the scale of development only by a study of its modes of reaction in their relation to the problem of attaining the most advantageous forms of adjustment between organism and environment. The mind is a factor in the solution of that problem.

4. THE BIOLOgical View of Mind.

Our study of the characteristics of an organism and the process of adjustment has prepared us to understand what we mean by a biological view of mind. If we take the biological point of view in psychology, we start with the living whole, with the organism. That living whole is psycho-physical. The human being cannot be described wholly in terms of body, nor can he be described wholly in terms of mind. Both are essential; he is a mind-body creature. This is a fact which we cannot overlook in our interpretation of the mind. Consciousness and all its processes must be described in terms of the living whole,—the psycho-physical organism. We can best show what this means by pointing out certain psychological principles, which, from this point of view, follow from our analysis of the organism.

(1) Consciousness not an end in itself.

From the biological point of view, consciousness cannot be viewed as an end in itself any more than the hand and the stomach can be viewed as ends in themselves. The psychological aspect of the organism cannot be fully understood by studying it in isolation, in terms of itself. Psychology must show the use, or function, of consciousness in the life of the whole psycho-physical organism,—the part that consciousness plays in the concrete life of the individual. Psychology cannot profitably study consciousness in the abstract, apart from any relation that it has to the body, or that the body has to it, apart from the complex of activities, or reactions, in which it inheres and which form its natural setting.

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(2) Mental processes have adjustment value.

As the organism is a self-maintaining system, the mind and its various forms of activity have some specific relation to the self-maintenance and perfection of the organism. Every mental process has a place and a function within the whole organic system. The biologist believes that every special structure has arisen in the process of adjustment, or that having appeared as a variation it has been preserved and perfected because of the advantage which its possession has given to the organism in the struggle for existence. He has thus come to view every differentiation of a structure as having some special adjustment value secured through a useful correlative specialization of function. The mind and its conscious processes are not to be excepted from the general principle. Mind must have some significance in the process of adjustment. The question then becomes, What is that significance? Under what conditions of reaction would conscious processes be advantageous? That is, in what sorts of situations would they have selective value and be at a premium in the struggle for existence, or for a more satisfactory existence? Just what is the function and the adjustment value of each of the various differentiations of consciousness,-the various attitudes of mind and the various mental activities? Just what part does each play in the process of more perfect adjustment? What in detail is the method by which each of the various conscious processes contributes to the maintenance and welfare of the psycho-physical organism?

Take the case of memory for example. Psychology will raise such questions as these: Under what conditions will the activity of mind need to assume the form of memory? What will be the use of memory when it does appear? Just what does it contribute under this particular set of conditions to the solution of the problem which confronts the organism? What is the method of its operation in the performance of its function? What are the specific ele

ments of technique involved in that method? What is its relation to the other conscious processes involved at the same time or in connection with the same situation? Thus memory will be studied in its whole setting, which includes its relation to bodily activities, or reactions, which are producing, or are tending to produce, changes in the environment or in the self. Psychology, from the biological point of view, will take the same attitude toward all the other conscious processes, whether they be classed under the heads of intellect, feeling, or will. They will all be regarded as functional activities of the mind called forth under conditions which make them necessary in order to meet specific needs of the whole organism.

(3) Law of human self-determination psychical as well as physical.

As a law of determination from within is a fundamental characteristic of the organism, it must be that in the case of psycho-physical organisms the law of self-determination is psychical as well as physical. The kind of organism is that which is characterized by both body and mind in organic relation to each other. When the biological view of mind is urged, its advocate is often thought to be making the body and its physical life the end, viewing mind and all its processes as mere means to that end. But mind, when it appears in the living organism, becomes a part of the whole, an integral aspect of the self. The self is incomplete without it. Psychical dispositions and tendencies of every sort, both native and acquired, are inner factors just as really as bodily tendencies. And adjustment to environment in case of psycho-physical organisms must be such as to satisfy needs springing from the mental constitution of the individual as well as the physical.

The point which has just been made regarding the mental life also holds true with reference to the social nature. The law of determination from within in the case of human beings includes social tendencies which are inherent.

Aristotle said that man is a political (social) anim have been schools of thought which attempted all social organization from an individualistic a basis. But modern psychology and sociology a Aristotle that there is something inherent in ma responsible for the evolution of social organization is some sort of a push-from-behind which must into account as well as special conditions of the ment in explaining the varied social institutions ity. The same thing is true in the case of the religious life and their forms of expression.

In treating, then, of the higher forms of organi have found their culmination in the human spec we speak of adjustment between organism and ment, we shall mean by environment not merel nature but every form of influence from withou vidual which comes into interaction with his inn cies. As inner tendencies are physical, ment ethical, religious, etc., man's adjustment to the which he lives is not complete except as it is terms of processes which shall meet his various needs, needs that are inherent in the very nature of determination from within.

From the biological point of view, we regard ness as an essential characteristic of the human which has developed to its present stage of spe and efficiency in the process of more adequatel human needs. As needs have multiplied and ha more definite and highly specialized, consciou evolved more fully and has taken on specialized activity relevant to the meeting of these needs. sciousness of the human being is higher than t rest of the animal world not so much by virtue that he has to adjust himself to a more comple ment, as we sometimes hear it stated, as by virtue

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that he has evolved a more complex and varied set of needs, -physical, mental, social, ethical, religious, aesthetic, scientific, etc. To satisfy these needs man is impelled to put himself into more complex relations with his environment. His adjustments in the attempt to meet these needs are more varied and complex. This calls for a higher order of conscious processes.

Among these higher conscious processes, one of the most significant is thinking, of which we are to make a special study. But before we can enter upon the details of this investigation, we shall have to pause for some length of time to develop more fully our point of view for the interpretation of the facts which we shall discuss and for their organization into one consistent whole. This will make necessary some considerable preliminary study of the function of consciousness in general and of the manner in which it becomes differentiated, specialized, and more highly organized for the more efficient performance of its function.