Page:An introduction to ethics.djvu/68

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INSTINCTIVE BEHAVIOUR
51

of present needs, and which therefore form the great reservoir of capital with which modern industry is supplied. This instinct of acquisitiveness has also led to the acquisition of knowledge. All science depends on the operation of the instinct in forming the desire to add to the stock of human knowledge. The connection of this with the instinct of curiosity is obviously close. Man's speculative tendencies have their root in this instinct. Curiosity is one of the most distinctive characteristics of the child. We all know how persistently and importunately curious little children are. Toddy's curiosity to "see the wheels go round" is the secret root of all man's science and philosophy. On these two instincts is based the School.

We have considered these instincts in pairs, and have pointed out the intimate connection of each pair with a fundamental human institution. This is a convenient way of indicating their significance. But we must remember that these instincts are rarely found in isolation, and that all of them contribute in some measure to every human institution. In the State and in the Church, in the Home and in the School, we find the same human behaviour, based on the same instincts and governed by the same laws. All our experience is a unity. But within this unity some modes of instinctive behaviour are more closely connected than others with one or other of the chief human institutions.

§ 4. The Education of Instinct. All that has been said in the previous sections implies that instincts can be educated. The possibility of educating them depends on their three chief charac-