And what man becomes, that he is.

If man's nature can be revealed only through the development of his
capacities, it is futile to seek it in a return to undeveloped man. The
nature of the chicken is not best revealed in the egg. And, as man can
develop only in interaction with his environment, we must, to understand
him, study his environment also.




CHAPTER IX

MAN'S MATERIAL ENVIRONMENT


24. THE STRUGGLE WITH NATURE.--It is not possible to disentangle from
each other and to consider quite separately the diverse elements which
enter into the environment of man and which influence his development.
His environment is two-fold, material and social; but his material
setting may affect his social relations, and it is social man, not the
individual as such, that achieves a conquest over nature. However, it is
possible, and it is convenient, to direct attention successively upon the
one and the other aspect of his environment.

At every stage of his development, man must have food, shelter, some
means of defense. If they are not easily obtainable, he must strain every
nerve to attain them. Are his powers feeble and his intelligence
undeveloped, it may tax all his efforts to keep himself alive and to
continue the race in any fashion. The rules which determine his conduct