dispute with philosophers and psychologists.

23. HOW DISCOVER MAN'S NATURE?--Nevertheless, in speaking of the nature
of any living creature, we are forced to remind ourselves that the
original endowment of the creature studied can never be isolated and
subjected to inspection independently of the setting in which the subject
of our study is found. Who, by an examination of the brain of a bee or of
an ant, could foresee the intricate organized industry of the hive or the
anthill? The seven ages of man are not stored ready-made in the little
body of the infant. At any rate, they are beyond the reach of the most
penetrating vision. In the case of the simple mechanisms which can be
constructed by man a forecast of future function is possible on the basis
of a general knowledge of mechanics. But there is no living being of
whose internal constitution we have a similar knowledge. From the
behavior of the creature we gather a knowledge of its nature; we do not
start with its nature as directly revealed and infer its behavior. That
there are differences in the internal constitution of beings which react
to the same environment in different ways, we have every reason to
believe. What those differences are in detail we cannot know. And our
knowledge of the capacities inherent in this or that constitution will be
limited by what we can observe of its reaction to environment.

Sometimes the reaction to environment is relatively simple and uniform.
In this case we feel that we can attain without great difficulty to what
may be regarded as a satisfactory knowledge of the nature of the creature
studied. The conception of that nature appears to be rather definite and
unequivocal. When it is once attained, we speak with some assurance of
the way in which the creature will act in this situation or in that. If,
however, the capacities are vastly more ample, and the environment to
which this creature is adjusted is greatly extended, the difficulty of