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of instruction , experience , forethought , and deliberation . They are the result of no rational motive , and directed to no intelligent end . Nevertheless , all instinctive actions have a tendency to the preservation of the individual , or the species to which it belongs . Indeed
the impulses of instinct teach us the moral lesson so difficult to be comprehended by man ' s reason , and so seldom acted out , that the individual is most benefited by that which most benefits his kind , that , in fact , the greatest good of the greatest number , is also the greatest good of the least .
Instinct then may be defined , a propensity prior to experience and independent of instruction , tending to self preservation , or the perpetuity of the race . The term " propensity , " implying the pre-existence of sensation , excludes vegetables from all participation in this gift of nature .
But there is a class of voluntary actions not under the dominion of instinct . These we may call rational actions , that is , voluntary actions , which are the result of previous deliberation , and which imply either instruction or experience , or both . They are likewise directed to an intelligible end . Of the three classes of actions above described , namely , the involuntary , the instinctive , and the rational , the first requires a condition of structure called irritability : the second requires superadded
sensibility ; the third requires deliberation and design . The first pervades the whole of living nature , the second is confined to the animal kingdom , the third ( by popular consent ) , is the sole prerogative of man , and in its exercise is supposed to consist his dominion over the brute creation . Into this it will be our task to inquire ; and we shall first illustrate by examples the existence of instinct , and also of a rational faculty in animalswhich last mav be
, clearly traced in some of them , though in a limited form : and we shall lastly inquire whether man ( although nobly and superlatively endowed with reason ) , is not also subject to the impulses of natural instinct . Of the instinct of animals ( of which we now propose to give a few examples ) , we have a beautiful illustration in the construction of the nests of birds . Every species of the feathered race builds a nest peculiar to itself and unlike every other , so that an observant naturalist
can detect the species as well by the nest as by the eggs it may contain . The selection of the materials , the arrangement and contrivance evinced in putting them together , the choice of situation for shelter , convenience , and concealment , are all perfectly normal and similar with all birds of the same species , as they are unique and dissimilar in different species . A sparrow could never learn to construct a nest for a crow , and the crow would make but a sorry bed for the sparrow .
This talent for nest-building cannot be the effect of instruction ; for it has been ascertained by experiment that a crow hatched in the nest of the domestic fowl , and carefully prevented from associating with its brother crows , or surveying any of their works , will nevertheless build its nest after the same model , to the laying of a stick ,
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Untitled Article
of instruction , experience , forethought , and deliberation . They are the result of no rational motive , and directed to no intelligent end . Nevertheless , all instinctive actions have a tendency to the preservation of the individual , or the species to which it belongs . Indeed
the impulses of instinct teach us the moral lesson so difficult to be comprehended by man ' s reason , and so seldom acted out , that the individual is most benefited by that which most benefits his kind , that , in fact , the greatest good of the greatest number , is also the greatest good of the least .
Instinct then may be defined , a propensity prior to experience and independent of instruction , tending to self preservation , or the perpetuity of the race . The term " propensity , " implying the pre-existence of sensation , excludes vegetables from all participation in this gift of nature .
But there is a class of voluntary actions not under the dominion of instinct . These we may call rational actions , that is , voluntary actions , which are the result of previous deliberation , and which imply either instruction or experience , or both . They are likewise directed to an intelligible end . Of the three classes of actions above described , namely , the involuntary , the instinctive , and the rational , the first requires a condition of structure called irritability : the second requires superadded
sensibility ; the third requires deliberation and design . The first pervades the whole of living nature , the second is confined to the animal kingdom , the third ( by popular consent ) , is the sole prerogative of man , and in its exercise is supposed to consist his dominion over the brute creation . Into this it will be our task to inquire ; and we shall first illustrate by examples the existence of instinct , and also of a rational faculty in animalswhich last mav be
, clearly traced in some of them , though in a limited form : and we shall lastly inquire whether man ( although nobly and superlatively endowed with reason ) , is not also subject to the impulses of natural instinct . Of the instinct of animals ( of which we now propose to give a few examples ) , we have a beautiful illustration in the construction of the nests of birds . Every species of the feathered race builds a nest peculiar to itself and unlike every other , so that an observant naturalist
can detect the species as well by the nest as by the eggs it may contain . The selection of the materials , the arrangement and contrivance evinced in putting them together , the choice of situation for shelter , convenience , and concealment , are all perfectly normal and similar with all birds of the same species , as they are unique and dissimilar in different species . A sparrow could never learn to construct a nest for a crow , and the crow would make but a sorry bed for the sparrow .
This talent for nest-building cannot be the effect of instruction ; for it has been ascertained by experiment that a crow hatched in the nest of the domestic fowl , and carefully prevented from associating with its brother crows , or surveying any of their works , will nevertheless build its nest after the same model , to the laying of a stick ,