ABSTRACT
Inference in its fully developed form of reason is a con ceptual process dealing with ideas that may be of a highly abstract nature; but it was not so from the first. Thought began as a solely practical matter, in dealing with the actual objects and situations presented to the senses. Conditions being seldom exactly the same, most inductive reasoning deals not with identical instances but with the comparison of things that have some similarity. The main function of intellect is thus to choose and guide action by reference to its probable results. This would seem to be the chief means by which evolution, now becoming a conscious process, may be continued beyond its present stage. Intellect has been developed in the pursuit of biological ends as a means to more efficient action; first by immediate judgments as to the situation to be met and the course to be taken, and then by a fuller apprehension of relations.
