ABSTRACT
Many psychologists are sceptical of the existence of such innate specific tendencies in man; they regard them as being developed by the circumstances of the individual's life out of the general urge of each individual to maintain itself, an urge which is of course innate. There are some psychologists who would even deny that there is any common human nature to be found in all men. Many phenomena of human life, both that of individuals and of societies can only be understood in terms of sentiments, a thesis which will find abundant illustration. Sentiments, though they are resistant, do change by the impact of new facts and of new experiences; and they are most altered, in spite of their resistance, by human reflection and by human reason. For when the maximum has been said about human irrationality, it remains true that the most important fact about man is that he does reason.
