CHAPTER XIV.

MASCULINE REASON AND FEMININE INTUITION.
Neither physical science nor speculative philosophy accounts for the differing intellectual processes of men and women.
Both, however, agree that a difference exists. To man is uni- versally credited the stronger rational powers, to woman the keener intuitions.
Just what Reason is, and just what Intuition is, are problems not, as yet, solved by materialistic science nor by speculative phi- losophies. Physical science does fairly well when it declares that physical effects have physical causes. When it enters the domain of pure intelligence it becomes speculative.
"Afl the laws of physical evolution can never explain the first genesis of mind." So declares the Encyclopedia Britannica in its summary of the Darwinian theory.
Physical science, after accepting the digestive organs as the cause of mental phenomena, proceeds tolerably well in its analysis of Reason. It traces fairly well the relation between certain phys- ical causes and certain rational operations of the primitive mind, as relates to things tangible and visible to the physical senses.
For example: It traces a relation between the rigors of cli- mate and the rational act of the savage who constructs a hut for shelter. It traces cause and rational effect when he converts the skins of animals into clothing. It traces cause and effect in the act of trapping an animal for food purposes. Here the relation between the physical necessity and the rational act is clear and un- mistakable.
There are, however, other phenomena connected with phys- ical acts which are not explainable on the same grounds. For
362
MASCULINE REASON— FEMININE INTUITION. 263
illustration, By what operation of intelligence, or for what rational cause does the same savage desire and seek a certain class of foods? In this case he acts by Intuition, since neither the savage himself nor physical science can rationally explain the law gov- erning the selection of foods.
Those intelligent methods which are purely rational are intelli- gible to Reason. As yet, however, Reason has not satisfied itself as to the nature and meaning of those intelligent processes which we define as intuitive.
For example: Our rational judgment of an individual may di- rectly contradict our intuitions concerning him. Though Reason may find no fault in him, Intuition may condemn him and we may feel the man to be false or vicious whose public life seems fair and honest. Or again, a jury pronounces a man guilty upon the circumstantial, or what we would term the rational evidence. At the same time, every member of that jury may have an "impres- sion," or Intuition, of the prisoner's innocence. On the other hand, the accused may be acquitted upon the rational evidence, and yet, somehow, impress every juryman with a feeling of his guilt.
Here we have the double process of intelligence, viz., Reason and Intuition. Here are rational and intuitive processes simul- taneously moving the intelligent Ego to two diametrically oppo- site decisions. And this is one of the common experiences of daily life. At every turn, at every stage of development, human intelligence deals with the opposite phenomena of Reason and Intuition.
Each one of us recognizes in himself the play of these two principles. We continually alternate between acts governed by Reason and those governed by Intuition. The one act is rational, the other is what we define as an impulsive or emotional or in- tuitive act. We trace the effects of these dual processes in all acts that have been recorded as human history. We take note of them in all current affairs, in the lives of our neighbors and acquaintances, and in our own families.
264 HARMONICS OF EVOLUTION.
The history of intellectual development is the history of Rea- son in apparent conflict with Intuition. The achievements of man are, however, the combined results of both activities. Human achievements, intellectually speaking, are measured by the proper exercise and balance as between the two. The prophecies (or im- pulses) of Intuition, practically carried out by Reason, constitute intellectual development. Intuition furnishes man his ideals of achievement and happiness. It is individual Reason, however, which equips him to realize those ideals.
Each one of us feels that he understands his own rational processes. We know why we reach such or such a rational opinion. Most of us, however, are wholly at sea when we attempt to analyze our own intuitions. Most of us are confounded when we would explain that subtle monitor which so often contradicts and overrides Reason and deflects us from our rational conclusions.
It is this "inexplicable" activity of the intelligent Ego which refutes every theory of a mechanical and physical basis of intelli- gence. It is this subtle monitor which keeps the individual man in touch with the spiritual plane, and fortifies even low grade intelligence against skepticism of spiritual things.
The intelligence of this age demands of science an explana^ tion of these apparently conflicting phenomena. The intelligence of man demands explanation of its own activities which shall co- incide with the universal experience of intelligence itself. It rejects those theories which separate human from animal intelli- gence by nothing except a matter of additional feeding, breeding and battle.
Physical science fails to demonstrate the missing link between animal and human minds, just as it does between animal and human organisms. Nature does not furnish either hybrid physical or mental types.
If the kingdoms of Nature were not separated by unlike life elements there would obtain infinite variations and experiments in the physical organism. As with the body so with intelligence. If the phenomena of intelligence were separated only by time
MASCULINE REASON— FEMININE INTUITION. 265
and experience, there would be mental types of infinite variation between animal and man. There would be no distinct line of de- marcation between them.
This, however, is not the fact. An entity is distinctly an animal or a human. The intelligence of a living entity is colfi- ditioned to a rational and moral development, or it is not. No animal infant has human capacities of mind or of conscience. No normal human infant lacks those capacities.
Science, therefore, is called upon to analyze human intelli- gence in terms of human nature rather than in those of animal nature. It is asked to give an intelligible explanation of what we term "Reason" and what we know as "Intuition."
This it does in accordance with its knowledge of two material organisms and two material planes of vibratory action.
As already explained, every individual earthly Ego inhabits and operates two material bodies, the one physical and the other spiritual. As already explained, each body is provided with sen- sory organs adapted to the vibrations of matter upon its own plane. It is through these two material instruments that the third and highest entity, the intelligent soul, operates for the acquire- ment of knowledge and the attainment of happiness.
When the Ego operates upon the physical plane it must be guided by the physical organs of sensation. It must depend upon the reports which are conveyed to it through the medium of the physical nerves and the physical brain. When operating upon the spiritual plane the intelligent Ego employs the spiritual organs of sense and depends upon the reports conveyed through the spiritual nerves and spiritual brain.
When the physically embodied man uses the knowledge he has independently acquired by physical means as a basis of action, he is said to exercise Reason. When he uses the knowledge ac- quired (unconsciously) by spiritual means he is said to employ Intuition.
Thus, Reason has to do with the conscious acquirement and exercise of knowledge upon the physical plane, while Intuition
266 HARMONICS OF EVOLUTION.
has to do with the unconscious acquirement of knowledge upon the spiritual plane.
Intuition is the universal spiritual faculty of all physically embodied intelligent entities. Reason, however, is an individual power which distinguishes the intelligent activities of man alone. Rational Intelligence is the peculiar capacity of the soul endowed human.
The activities of man are, therefore, based upon both Reason and Intuition. It is man alone who operates intelligently through both the physical and spiritual organs of sensation. Only the human physical brain registers the vibrations of physical matter with sufficient exactness and nicety to enable the Ego to form independent (or rational) judgments concerning those vibrations, and to shape his course accordingly.
All men and all women have these double capacities of Reason and Intuition. That is to say, both men and women may enjoy spiritual intuitions and may form independent rational concepts. This returns us to that fundamental principle of sex which con- ditions man to develop the rational powers of intelligence more forcefully, and conditions woman to greater reliance upon her spiritual faculties.
The coarser the physical body, the coarser the spiritual body. The finer the physical body the finer the spiritual body. The coarser the physical body the less freely do the spiritual sensory organs receive and register the vibrations of spiritual material. This means that coarse physical conditions interfere with the operations of the spiritual faculties.
A physically refined man experiences keener intuitions than the man who is physically gross. This general law aids the ascetic to achieve spiritual powers; such as clairvoyance and clair- audience. By this same general law women, as a class, are natu- rally more "spiritual" or intuitive than men.
Certain of our modern writers have erroneously explained this operation of the Ego through its spiritual sensory organs, as the operations of a "sub-conscious self." This gives an erroneous
MASCULINE REASON-FEMININE INTUITION. 26>
impression. There is but one intelligent Ego, one "I," one "Self," operating through two sets of sensory organs. This spiritual process of intelligence is, to the untrained, a super-conscious act; to the trained student, however, the use of the spiritual senses constitutes a perfectly conscious and rational act.
It follows, therefore, that the finer the physical organism of a man or woman, the more nearly it approaches the spiritual plane of vibrations, or, as we say, the more intuitional the individual becomes. We have a common (and correct) habit of referring io persons long ill and to the ascetic and to very delicate persons, as "spiritual." Even the skeptic knows what is meant when we say that such or such a person is "spiritual" in appearance, or in manner, or in character. He could not, however, satisfactorily explain wherein this "spirituality" consists.
Men and women may, at will, cultivate either the rational or the intuitional faculties or both. They may, at will, neglect both. Cultivation of the rational powers to the neglect of the intuitive, sharpens the intelligence in its activities upon the physical plane. It exercises the physical brain and strengthens it in the acquire- ment of knowledge. Cultivation of the rational powers to the exclusion of the intuitive inclines the individual intelligence to materialism. Dependence upon the intuitive faculties to the neglect of the rational powers sharpens the spiritual faculties, but leaves the physical brain power undeveloped. Dependence upon Intuition alone, promotes superstition. The neglect of both proc- esses of intelligence means savagery and stupidity.
Darwin, himself, furnishes the best possible illustration of ra- tional intelligence, or of intelligence focused upon the physical plane, in pursuit of knowledge of physical things. Here is intel- ligence operating through the physical senses and the physical only, and refusing all aid and testimony of the intuitions. Here is rational intelligence alone. As a result we have only bald facts of physical Nature, and materialistic dogmas to account for those facts.
Joan D'Arc, on the contrary, represents (during her prophetic
268 HARMONICS OF EVOLUTION.
life) Intuition. She represents intelligence receiving its impres- sions and drawing its conclusions from the spiritual side of life only. Here is intelligence wholly unaided by the rational and independent processes of the physical brain. The Maid of Orleans perfectly illustrates the principle of spiritual mediumship.
We have also another and a higher expression of intelligence. Plato, Shakespeare, Emerson and, in fact, all great intelligences who have won the greatest earthly fame as poets, philosophers and divines, have been those who exercised both Reason and Intuition. Such men illustrate the conscious exercise of the ra- tional powers and a super-conscious exercise of the intuitive powers. Intelligence so balanced in its activities, inclines to the higher poetic and philosophic thought.
There is still another and higher order of intelligence possible to the earth plane. This, however, is a distinction very difficult to 'explain. It is needless to say more than that by a purely scientific course of training (already referred to) a man may ex- ercise his intelligence rationally upon both planes of existence. That is to say, the intelligence of a physically embodied man may self-develop to the point where its processes upon both planes are self-conscious and rational. This illustrates the highest possible development of a physically embodied intelligence. A Buddha or a Christ illustrates such development.
Reason and Intuition represent the struggle of an individual- ized intelligence which is seeking knowledge of itself and individ- ual happiness upon the physical plane of existence.
Masculine intelligence tends to rational development, while feminine intelligence more generally employs intuitive methods.
These are facts which are noted, but not explained, by modern physical science, nor by any of the modern philosophies. The higher science solves this problem by the same law of polarity which constitutes the text of this work.
As far as finite science penetrates, it finds matter undergoing transformations along intelligent lines. It finds that intelligence is universally positive to matter. That is, matter is universally
MASCULINE REASON— FEMININE INTUITION. 269
acted upon by a general intelligence. What is true of universal intelligence is also true of individual intelligence. While general intelligence governs the unconscious operations of man's physical body, it is the individual or psychical intelligence of man which coarsens or refines or strengthens or weakens its material instru- ments accordingly as its individual methods conform to or con- travene general laws.
This brings us to a consideration of that principle which im- pels masculine intelligence to seek rational development, and conditions feminine intelligence to follow intuitive methods.
It is the intelligent soul of man, rather than the physical body, which is seeking to know itself and to realize its ideals upon th'e physical plane. It is the positive masculine soul and the receptive feminine soul which are seeking individual and ethical content in accordance with their differing elements and energies.
The Ego in seeking this happiness is continually governed by that law of polarity which conditions it either to aggressiveness or to non-resistance.
All activities are, primarily, activities of the soul. It is, there- fore, the soul itself which, acting through its physical and spiritual instruments, gives rise to Reason and Intuition.
Man is the positive and aggressive will force of the human family. He directs his intelligence toward the gratification of that imperious will. He concentrates his powers of intelligence along lines which are to gratify the spirit of conquest. By reason of this he becomes the positive intellectual as well as the positive physical factor in the evolution of man. Everything on the masculine side of Nature exhibits this positive and aggressive energy. Positive masculine force governs generation on the physical plane and also what we term organization and creation upon the intellectual plane. Everything on the masculine side is arrayed for that struggle for supremacy which results in intel- lectual as well as physical contests.
Moved and inspired by this innate force of will, the intelligent soul of man self-develops naturally along the path of acquirement
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by force. In fact, the masculine intelligence appears to seek the lines of the greatest resistance. From the beginning masculine intelligence has sought to gratify itself through obtaining su- premacy, power and control as among other intelligences.
Acquisition, whether of material things or of power and con- trol, necessitates definite knowledge of that which is to be con- quered, acquired or governed.
Necessity for knowledge stimulates the intelligence to an ac- quirement of knowledge. This necessity for knowledge and the effort to gain it compel concentration of the intelligence. Knowl- edge so acquired, for immediate material uses, is always prac- tically applied. It is this concentration of intelligence, this acquirement of knowledge and this practical application of knowl- edge which together constitute the rational process.
Masculine intelligence accepts this physical world and this physical life as his field of conquest. To this end man concen- trates all energies of will and intelligence for the achievement of success among his fellow men. Such conquest and acquirement seem possible only to the masculine half of humanity.
By reason of this forceful pursuit and practical application of knowledge, man has been well named "The Hunter for Truth."
On the other side of Nature, woman represents the principle of intelligent desire. From the beginning, she has directed her intelligence toward the gratification of her pacific nature. She exercises her intelligence along the lines of least resistance. That is, she exercises it through the spiritual faculties and super-con- scious processes, rather than by those rational methods which necessitate greater concentration. As a result, the intelligence of woman is more affected by spiritual than by physical vibrations, and by spiritual rather than physical influences, conditions and relations. She centers her intelligence where it enjoys the greater harmonies. This means that she centers her intelligence upon the love relations which are personal to herself.
Thus, she becomes the pacific intellectual, as well as the non- resistant physical factor in the evolution of man. Everything on
MASCULINE REASON— FEMININE INTUITION. 271
the feminine side of Nature exhibits this pacific quality in relation to its masculine complement. Everything on the feminine side is conditioned to self-surrender. The feminine half of humanity is not merely dominated physically by masculine physical force, but by the masculine will and force of intelligence. On the fem- inine side there is no such thing as a struggle for supremacy through force of will. As between women themselves there is no exhibition of that" spirit of conquest which men display among themselves and towards women. Feminine nature does not natu- rally nor voluntarily incline to physical contest. Women are roused to forceful combat only where their personal or love relations are threatened.
By reason of these facts the feminine mind is stimulated to forceful activity mainly in defense of the spiritual or the love relations of life. Her desire for knowledge is not to gain a su- premacy among other women. It is rather that she may enjoy the love relations and find self-content in spiritually harmonious conditions. If man is named "The Hunter for Truth," woman may well be characterized as "The Searcher for Love."
From the beginning, feminine intelligence has exercised itself toward the gratification of an absorbing love nature. This object does not compel the same exact knowledge of physical things and physical conditions that man must acquire to accomplish mascu- line ends and ambitions.
Feminine ambition does not look (primarily) for its satisfac- tions to material possession nor to temporal power or fame. Seeking love as the first object of life, the individual woman is not induced to acquire practical knowledge as a means to this end. She lacks that stimulating ambition which first calls for, and then maintains, a concentration of intelligence upon the physical side of life.
For this reason woman has not kept pace with man intel- lectually, but has depended more largely upon the easier (and super-conscious) exercise of the spiritual faculties. She therefore maintains a closer touch with spiritual things and acts from her
272 HARMONICS OF EVOLUTION.
intuitions from that plane, rather than from rational judgments as to conditions upon the physical plane.
She relies, therefore, upon knowledge gained by the least effort of will. This, in effect, retards rational development and gives to masculine intelligence the greater control of the physical and practical side of life, through his greater knowledge and stronger will.
Spiritual intuitions translate themselves to intelligence as un- accountable impulses and emotions, so that one who acts from Intuition instead of Reason is termed impulsive and emotional. Such an individual is quick to love, to hate, to hope or to fear, but is slow in framing reasons for such impulses and such emo- tions.
Because of this relative difference in the intelligence, woman comes to be regarded as the emotional factor in the home and in society, and man acquires the distinction of being the more rational element in social development.
Thus, women are looked upon as "sentimental," while men pride themselves as being thoroughly "practical."
Thus, it becomes apparent that this problem of masculine and feminine intelligence is not one of inferiority or superiority. It is merely a question as to difference in kind of intelligence. The distinction between masculine and feminine intelligence is no more an invidious distinction as to woman, than is the difference in their physical organisms. In fact, the difference in the in- tellectual activities of the sexes rests upon the same principle which differentiates their physical bodies, viz., force of will on one side and desire without will on the other.
This question of woman's mental inferiority is fairly tested in our advanced coeducational system. Women may well turn with pride to their record in such colleges and universities as have been opened to them by the improved masculine intelligence. These institutions do not report woman as the mental inferior of her masculine class-mate. They do not show her as inferior in the
MASCULINE REASON— FEMININE INTUITION. 273
acquirement of knowledge. On the contrary, she challenges the young men and frequently wins in the race for honors.
This, however, has to do with woman as an absorber of knowl- edge, and not as the pioneer in an independent acquisition of hith- erto unknown facts. Women as learners and teachers have fully demonstrated their intellectual equality. It remains for them, however, to prove their strength in original acquisition. It re- mains for woman to show that positive force of intelligence whicK governs the organization and classification of new facts into defi- nite systems of law, science, art, philosophy and mechanics.
Thus far, it must be admitted, the masculine intelligence almost entirely represents what we define as the creative power in the intellectual world.
It is, therefore, not in degree, but in kind that masculine and feminine intelligence differ. It is not in value, but in force that they are unequal. Though different in kind, they must be reckoned as equal in value in the intellectual progress of the world; for when we take into account the ethical value of woman's intuitive intelligence, it appears that the scheme of Nature is to improve the individual man and woman through a mutual exchange of intellectual powers. This continual ex- change must be taken as the prophecy of a final perfect balance or completion.
The especial errors of masculine and feminine nature are also referable to the inherent principles of aggression and non-resist- ance. The sins of masculine intelligence are mainly the sins of commission, while those of woman are mainly the sins of omis- sion. Masculine will inclines to the tyrannic use of force. Femi- nine desire inclines to inertia and self-surrender. One is the error of strength, the other that of weakness.
The misuse and misdirection of masculine force are nowhere
better illustrated than in his treatment of woman. He seeks to
control her not only physically by physical force, but he seeks
to control her intelligence by his own force of will. This tyrannic
18
274 HARMONICS OF EVOLUTION.
masculine nature exhibits itself also wherever men are able to control other men by force of body and will.
On the other hand, the greatest error of woman is her weak- ness, her submission and self-surrender to the physical and in- tellectual tyranny of man.
Prostitution, the venal sin of woman, is the sin of weakness and self-surrender to the aggressive demands of man. Legal oppression and marital slavery were never made possible except by the weak, stupid submission of women themselves.
The non-resistant nature of woman is responsible for another obstacle in the path of her development.
The closer touch of woman to the spiritual plane exposes her to certain dangers which men largely escape by their greater aggressiveness. This danger is an indulgence in spiritual medi- umship, for woman's tendency to submission is as much of a temptation on the other side of life as it is on this.
Saint Paul is accused of discourtesy to woman in that he ad- monished her to silence in the church. The probabilities are that he simply acted upon his knowledge of the then stage of rational development, his knowledge of the emotional nature of woman and his acquaintance with the laws of spiritual control. He doubt- less realized that woman was not then prepared to withstand all of the influences she would invite from the spiritual plane. His purpose was probably to protect her from hysteria, mediumistic control and possibly obsession and insanity.
Even after nineteen hundred years women are still so suscepti- ble to spiritual forces that they can scarcely bear the strain of public life. Nervous prostration is the bane of our ambitious women who are publicly contending with the spiritual condi- tions of our present stage of development.
Even women will admit that it is mainly women who indulge in nervous and emotional conditions. The agonies of hysteria and the ecstasies of religious exaltation are largely given over to women. Even women will concede that their natural tendency
MASCULINE REASON— FEMININE INTUITION. 275
is to view life through the emotions rather than through cold reason.
In this connection it must be explained that each sex in itself illustrates infinite gradations of will force. It is true that mascu- line nature is positive to feminine nature as a whole. Each sex, however, embraces individuals of differing force which would make them positive and negative to one another. There are certain women who, in some respects, are positive to certain men. The union of two such individuals is the most flagrant breach of nature. This means discord without hope of better- ment. It means lifelong contempt on the woman's side and un- ending humiliation to the man. It is the relatively negative of both sexes who become spiritual mediums; of these, However, the proportion of women is much the larger.
The susceptibility of women to a stronger will power obtains in their relations to both planes of life. This is illustrated uni- versally in all normal conditions of human life. In savagery and civilization women generally yield to men in matters of both public and private control of the state and the home. It is the masculine intelligence which furnishes laws, organizes society an3 enforces obedience. Feminine intelligence universally submits to those laws and sustains social organization by a passive obedi- ence. When the laws of men oppress women, they have hereto- fore had no recourse except to gradually improve masculine nature through the power of pacific influence. What the woman of the future will do remains to be seen.
Even the high type women of the Anglo-Saxon race yield to the will of men, publicly and privately. These women do not fear physical violence. They yield simply because men have the stronger wills. They yield to a purely intellectual coercion.
On another point germain to intellectual development, men and women appear to be confused. This relates to what we know as "aestheticism" and the "artistic temperament." What consti- tutes the artistic temperament, what gives rise to aesthetic tastes, and what the explanation of genius, have long been puzzling
276 HARMONICS OF EVOLUTION.
questions. These are phenomena, however, which are explain- able under spiritual laws and principles.
The individual whose spiritual organs of sensation are suscep- tible to spiritual vibrations, enjoys a super-conscious perception of sound, color, form and arrangement upon the spiritual plane, as well as the conscious perception of such vibrations upon the physical plane. This susceptibility to the higher harmonies of spiritual nature, gives rise to what we term our ideals, and induces the artistic temperament.
^Esthetic tastes are the result of this artistic temperament. ^Estheticism is, of course, marked by a greater or less degree of refinement according to the general spiritual development of the individual. When susceptibility to spiritual harmonies includes but one class of vibrations we then have the specialist; that is, a music lover, the lover of color, or one whose tastes tend to form, arrangement and design.
The artistic temperament is very common, and aestheticism is a very general pleasure of the intelligence. There are, however, few geniuses or artists. Art demands a higher order of intelli- gence than is involved in the mere perception and enjoyment of the beautiful and delightsome in Nature.
A genius is one who has the ability to rationally translate and physically reproduce his spiritual perceptions and intuitions of the beautiful in Nature.
An artist is a genius plus the industry to execute.
Neither sestheticism nor art is the basis of moral rectitude. Neither susceptibility to beauty nor ability to physically interpret such beauty creates moral sentiments. Morality is wholly a question of relationships between intelligent beings. The keenly intuitive are not necessarily of fine moral sense. Indeed, the biographical history of art suggests the contrary.
When an individual of keen spiritual intuitions lacks the ability to rationally translate his "impressions" and "visions" and "in- spirations," we have only the person of aesthetic tastes, the appre-
MASCULINE REASON— FEMININE INTUITION. 277
ciator of art and the patron of artists. We have not the composer, the sculptor, the poet, painter nor designer.
It may be safely said that sestheticism is the ruling vice, as well as the ruling gift, of woman. Women, as the more highly spirit- ualized and intuitional half of humanity, are therefore the more aesthetic portion of society. After woman's love of love, her love of the beautiful becomes her great temptation. Mere aestheticism, unaccompanied by either a high order of intelligence or a keen moral sense, is a misfortune rather than an accomplishment.
If love of love is one factor in prostitution, love of the beau- tiful is the other. The love of dress, adornment and decoration is responsible for a large share of the immoralities and sins of women. Fashion is essentially the feminine folly that offsets the coarser physical indulgences and sports of men. Women spend as much time, money and energy in satisfying their aesthetic tastes, and in the effort to be beautiful, as men do in the gratification of their coarse physical appetites and passions. Where the one finds pleasure in the adornment of her body and the decoration of her house, the other seeks his satisfaction in the vices of glut- tony, drunkenness, gaming and in sporting generally.
It should give women cause for thought, that a large part of the world's industry is a contribution to that character of aestheticism which neither reason nor conscience can commend.
The pursuit of the Good, the True and the Beautiful, is rightly said to be the highest occupation of the soul. These pursuits may well be said to cover the whole field of proper intellectual activity and development. That which is Good has to do with ethical principles. That which is True has to do with scientific fact. That which is Beautiful has to do with the harmonies of material Nature.
True to the sex principle, the masculine mind more naturally seeks that which is true. That is to say, it seeks that which is scientifically true. Feminine intelligence, on the contrary, just as naturally seeks that which is beautiful. Man, therefore, by a natural law, becomes the utilitarian, while worpan as naturally
278 HARMONICS OF EVOLUTION.
becomes the aesthetic factor in society. These tendencies are curiously illustrated by the criticisms the sexes so freely pass upon each other. Men condemn women for their vanity and emo- tionalism, for want of Reason, and for lack of practicality and ex- actness. ^Esthetic woman, on the other hand, is daily and hourly offended by the coarse physical tastes and coarser physical habits and the brutal physical sports of men.
It is interesting to note that the average woman is more of- fended by these things than she is by mere masculine immorality.
Women are in danger of overestimating their own more deli- cate tastes and habits, attributing them to moral superiority, when the real cause is simply a finer spiritual organization.
If any one doubts this, he has only to study woman of the under world whose love of the beautiful has contributed so largely to her downfall. Woman does not morally improve the world by her asstheticism. Those tastes merely serve to make life pic- turesque and pleasant and beautiful. The moral ideals of the world do not depend upon color, sound, form or arrangement. They are, instead, the result of right relations between intelligent beings, and a right understanding and practice of the principles of equity, justice, mercy, sympathy and love.
^Estheticism is one thing and ethics quite another. One has to do with the senses, the other with the growth and develop- ment of the intelligent soul. The one has to do with harmonious vibrations of matter, the other with principles which govern the relations between intelligent beings.
Woman is a moral factor, but not by reason of her aestheticism. The more sensitive spiritual organization conditions her to receive suggestions made by intelligences upon the spiritual plane more readily than man. To these experiences and not to her aesthetic tastes woman owes her quick intuitions of moral right and wrong. It is her ready, rational and practical application of those intelligent suggestions which constitutes woman the moral strength of earthly society.
Her ready intuition upon moral questions has long been a
MASCULINE REASON— FEMININE INTUITION. 2/9
puzzling characteristic of woman. How frequently women are heard to give an instant decision on a question involving moral principle, which decision she confesses came not by Reason but by Intuition. Trusting to Intuition rather than to Reason, she too often neglects the slower, more difficult, but more independ- ent process of a rational judgment.
A woman's "Because" covers a multitude of spiritual im- pressions. A woman will act rationally upon a. suggestion which she cannot rationally understand nor explain. A woman's "Be- cause" frequently leads to a better decision than a man's inde- pendent Reason.
This closer touch with the spiritual side of Nature, therefore, safeguards woman in the ordinary affairs of life, where she is un- able to make independent decision. These conditions and ex- periences equip her with a faith in spiritual things which the cold Reason of man cannot override. She is, therefore, religious by nature, and constitutes the link that binds man to the con- sideration of spiritual things.
This quicker apprehension of spiritual relations conditions woman to search for beauty, for harmony and love, rather than for material possession and scientific fact.
Physical science notes these fundamental differences in the mental constitution of the sexes. It does not, however, pretend to explain them, except by a general surmise that this force on one side and passivity on the other have been evolved by the requirements of nutrition and reproduction.
Darwin says : "The chief distinction in the intellectual powers of the two sexes, is shown by man's attaining a higher eminence in whatever he takes up, than can woman, whether requiring deep thought, reason or imagination."
This really means that man concentrates and projects his intelligence forcefully in pursuit of knowledge, rather than that he necessarily possesses greater intelligence than woman. Nor does it mean that he necessarily possesses greater "imagination" (spiritual Intuition) than woman. Does it not merely imply that
280 HARMONICS OF EVOLUTION.
he has acquired a more masterful and forceful style of publicly expressing those imaginations or Intuitions?
He says further: "It is generally admitted that with woman the powers of intuition or rapid perception, or perhaps imitation, are more strongly marked than in man."
He adds: "Some at least of these faculties are characteristic of the lower races and therefore of a lower civilization."
Had Darwin understood the spiritual principles and spiritual facts of intelligent life, he would have known that Intuition is a faculty possessed by animals as well as the lower races. He would have known that what he terms instinct in the animal, is in reality the intuitive process of intelligence. Nor did he observe that the powers of Intuition are ^s varied as those of Reason. He did not observe that human Intuition covers an immeasurably broader field than animal Intuition. Nor does it appear that he discovered that the intuitions of a high type woman are infinitely keener than those of a woman of low development. His statement, how- ever, as to man's superior rational powers and woman's keener perceptive faculties, is, in a general sense, correct.
History and universal experience support this statement.
History does not furnish a woman who ranks intellectually with Buddha, Confucius or Zoroaster. There is no femi- nine Abraham, Moses, Solomon, Daniel or Isaiah. There is no woman who compares with a Christ, a St. John or a St. Paul. No woman's name stands with that of Solon, Pythagops, Socrates, Plato or Seneca. There is no feminine Homer, Ossian, Dante or Milton. No woman has risen to divide the honors with a Beethoven or a Michael Angelo. The sculptured beauty of ancient Greece was masculine art. No woman has entered the lists with Euclid, Copernicus, Gallileo, Newton, Franklin, Dar- win and Edison. There is no woman Shakespeare, Bacon or Blackstone.
In the realm of religious reformation and enlargement, mas- culine intelligence has led the way. It was the intellectual force
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of a Luther, Calvin, Knox and Wesley which led the organized bodies of religious faith to higher levels of spiritual liberty.
Speculative philosophy has gained nothing from feminine in- telligence. Schopenhauer, Kant, Hamilton and Spencer haye no feminine counterparts. By reason of her innate nature and keen spiritual perceptions, it could not be expected that there will ever arise a feminine skeptic to rank with Paine, Voltaire and Renan.
Even in the fields of poetry and fiction, the peculiar domain of the spiritual perceptions, man continues to lead. Hugo, Scott, Bulwer, Balzac, Thackeray and Dickens, have no feminine rivals in the fields of imagination. George Sands, George Eliot and Mrs. Browning are, perhaps, the most forceful women writers who have thus far appealed to public favor.
Thus, in every department of intellectual development, poetry, religion, science, art, philosophy, law and literature, mas- culine intelligence dominates.
The higher science traces these mental differences and in- equalities of achievement to the universal principles which govern sex itself, viz., the principles of force and non-resistance.
All that has been said is not meant to brand woman as a mental inferior. There can be no question of superiority be- tween two indispensable principles of intelligence. These tre- mendous facts of intellectual development mean something, and that meaning lies in the essential nature of man and woman them- selves. What these illustrations imply and all that they imply, is the fact that there is an inequality of will force between man and woman. By this inequality one is conditioned to more ag- gressive exercise of body, spirit and intelligence than the other. This inequality of will displays itself in the intellectual world just as inequality of strength displays itself in the physical world.
The intellectual evolution of man and woman is an expression of the positive and receptive energies and activities of all the life elements. The individual man and woman represent the ac- cumulated gains of all evolution. The individual man and the individual woman, as the independent exponents of Reason and
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Intuition, represent the ascent of intelligence through all of the life elements.
Man as individual will, and woman as individual desire, consti- tute the highest creative powers of intelligence upon the physical plane.
Man as generator and woman as nourisher of life represent the operation of the lower life elements, but man as Reason and woman as Intuition stand at the apex of intellectual evolution. Man as "The Hunter for Truth" and woman as "The Searcher for Love" together exemplify the highest uses of intelligence upon the physical plane.
This characterization of man as Reason and woman as Intui- tion, is not meant to imply that men are without Intuition nor that women are without Reason. Nor is it meant that man alone develops the rational powers, nor that woman alone develops the love relations.
What is meant, and all that is meant in this connection, is to clearly state those inherent principles of masculine force and feminine receptivity, which, in the higher development, assign man to the more forceful exercise of intelligence and conditions woman to an absorbing rather than a creative character of in- telligence.
While it is true that the masculine mind inclines to rational methods, yet religion, art, poetry and romance embody the spirit- ual perceptions of men. It is also the spiritual nature of man which rises above lust to love, and co-operates with woman in the home relations and in the social philanthropies.
It is true that feminine nature relies chiefly upon spiritual in- tuitions. It is equally true that woman's ability to reason enables her to practically apply those intuitions. Her rational powers en- able her, when she will, to receive and absorb knowledge, to co- operate intellectually with man, and to reconstruct and reform society. It is, indeed, woman's rational application of spiritual perceptions that yield her an indisputable influence in the world.
It was inevitable that masculine intelligence should seek
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conquest and achievement by force. It was inevitable that the feminine intelligence should seek to accomplish by surrender. It was inevitable that one should look to material acquirement, to temporal power, to knowledge and fame for happiness. It was just as inevitable that woman should look to aesthetic pleasures, social harmonies and the love relations of life for her happiness. It is, therefore, clear that the masculine mind should lead in rational development and that the feminine mind should more readily determine spiritual relations and ethical principles.
It is natural that man should become the master of this ma- terial world, thus contributing to the comforts, ease and pleasures of life. It was just as natural that woman should maintain those spiritual principles upon the physical plane which give sweetness and beauty and value to living itself.
Thus, it appears that spiritual principles and not physical circumstance, accident and hostility, account for this divergence of masculine and feminine intelligence. It is not the struggle for nutrition that evolves intelligence. It is not the struggle for reproduction that evolves love. It is not enforced competitions that create masculine nature. It is, instead, the forceful life ele- ments which give rise to competition and constitute man the conqueror of material things, the controller of temporal affairs, and the developer of rational intelligence. It is not enforced sac- rifices that create feminine nature. It is, instead, the inherent elements of receptivity which constitute woman the sacrificial physical factor, the pacific intellectual power, and the developer of social ethics.
These, then, are the differing activities of sex intelligence, which are seeking equalization and completion in each other.
The present is an epoch in the history of intellectual evolu- tion. There are to-day indisputable evidences of that principle which is forever seeking to equalize and harmonize all positive and receptive elements and energies.
At no period of the world's history has the intellectual rela- tion of the sexes been of so much importance. At no period
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has there obtained such equality of intelligence between them. At no previous period has the best masculine intelligence given such rational consideration to spiritual things. Never before in history has feminine intelligence attained such power by purely practical and rational methods.
The most highly developed men of the superior races mark that point of development where the masculine nature is modified and refined through accelerated spiritual perception. On the other hand, the most highly developed woman of to-day marks that evolutionary stage where feminine nature is strengthened to independent and rational methods of thought and action.
The so-called "new woman" is only the universal woman with a stronger will, better controlled emotions, better reasoning powers and a larger knowledge of herself and the world.
Thus, the best manhood of to-day, without losing its essential character as force, is softened to an appreciation of the spiritual principles in Nature. The best womanhood, without losing its essentially pacific nature, is raised to the possibility of more force- ful activity.
Man, without losing his will to conquer, acquire and achieve, is able to perceive that the highest achievement ties primarily in perfect relations of individual life. Woman, on the other hand, without losing her desire for love and personal happiness, is risen to a rational consideration and an altruistic interest in the public progress and in the love relations of all human life.
The best womanhood of to-day is arrayed for a peaceful cru- sade. That crusade is conducted in the name of education, in' dustry, art and of equality, altruism and love. She thus moves into higher activities while maintaining the feminine principle of accomplishment by pacific methods. She stands for arbitration, not for war; for principles and not for policies. She puts ques- tions of morality before questions of expediency. She seeks domestic equality rather than political power. She stands for
MASCULINE REASON— FEMININE INTUITION. 285
mercy as well as for justice. She relies upon the power of love rather than the power of legislation. She advocates advancement by reciprocity and not by subjugation.
In brief, the best womanhood of to-day represents the search for love conducted by the light of reason as well as by the im- pulses and emotions.
Nor must it be imagined that feminine intelligence is not power. The history of intellectual development is the history of pacific influence modifying and overcoming the brutalities of intellectual force. Intellectual development necessitates this re- ceptive element even as it does the aggressive. Nature has de- creed this complementary and co-operating struggle as the price of a final perfect balance and completion.
Masculine intelligence organizes, while feminine intelligence maintains those organizations. While it is the masculine mind which evolves law, it is the feminine intelligence which preserves law by non-resistance. Receptivity is not negation. A pacific intelligence is not lack of intelligence. The power to absorb is as distinctly a power as that aggressive energy which creates and organizes. Man does not merely act upon feminine nature. He receives as well. He does not merely exert force, but receives that which modifies force and gives rise to new ideas. The rela- tion of man and woman is not merely that of aggressive will acting upon passive desire. It is rather a relation in which will is softened by desire and desire is strengthened by will.
It is true that the positive never becomes the receptive, even in intellectual life, nor the contrary. Each, however, receives from the other that which adds to or strengthens the weaker part. The savage will of man is slowly tempered and raised to manly cour- age. The stupid desire of the slave is slowly strengthened and raised to womanly tenderness and grace. Man loses his ferocity, not his force. Woman loses her stupidity but not her pacific na- ture. It is, in fact, these ceaseless co-operations which spiritualize the masculine mind and rationalize the feminine.
In this stupendous scheme of physical, intellectual and moral
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evolution, these dual principles and powers are absolutely interde- pendent. Men, cut off from natural association with women and grouped by themselves, degenerate and revert to the primitive state of lawlessness and ferocity. Women, denied the natural association with men, degenerate with equal rapidity into phys- ical and intellectual passivity and inertia. Nature proves:
(1) That the secret of material conquest and rational de- velopment is force of intelligence.
(2) That the secret of spiritual development is receptivity of intelligence.
It is not aggression alone nor receptivity alone that evolves. It is not will alone nor desire alone that generates and reproduces. It is not Reason alone nor Intuition alone that educates and de- velops.
Aggression without receptivity is mere destructiveness. Will without desire is waste. Reason without Intuition is intellect without inspiration or ideal. On the other hand, receptivity without aggression is stagnation. Desire without will is impo- tency. Intuition without Reason is impulse without direction or purpose.
Evolution involves, not merely force, but absorption of force. Generation involves, not merely the will to generate, but the He- sire to nourish. Intellectual development involves not merely the activity of Reason, but Reason illuminated by the activities of Intuition. Reason without inspiration is hardening. Intuition without judgment is disintegrating. Rational conceptions with- out spiritual perceptions engender skepticism and dogmatism. Spiritual perceptions without rational conceptions mean super- stition and dogmatism.
It is only an equal development and harmony of these intelli- gent powers which constitute the properly balanced individual.
A well-balanced intelligence must know the uses of intelli- gence upon both planes of existence. The attainment of such a
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state is more rapidly effected through the perfect individual re- lation of man and woman.
The true intellectual relation of man and woman is that of master and pupil, and this is the universal ideal which intelligent men and women have always cherished.
This statement is made without fear of challenge from the highest type of either sex. Man as master and woman as pupil of the master, is the relation that every man seeks and every woman craves. This is the relation which gratifies masculine pride of intelligence and furnishes woman the intellectual strength upon which she loves to lean.
Any other relation means disappointment, humiliation and dis- cord. ~
The man who finds himself mated to either an intellectual superior or one who disregards his opinions, is humiliated and disappointed. On the other hand, the woman who binds herself to a mental inferior is equally disappointed and disgusted.
In the individual relation, as well as in the general work of the world, the masculine mind should be the pioneer. This de- mands that force which goes into unexplored regions, which conquers obstacles, collects new material and organizes and ar- ranges its facts systematically. In the individual relation the fem- inine mind should be to the masculine just what the universal in- telligence of woman is to the universal intelligence of man.
This means that it follows the pioneer, and absorbs, digests and utilizes that which has been collected, classified and system- atized.
This is the one and only relation between man and woman which gives dignity and value to earthly life and absolutely satis- fies both Reason and Intuition. This is the one relation which outlasts physical life and perpetuates its conjoined activities in a higher world than this.
The radical "new woman" illustrates the sex principle intel- lectually as clearly as does the conservative "old woman." Her vehement demands for equality are misunderstood. She is not
288 HARMONICS OF EVOLUTION.
asking that law shall abrogate the decrees of Nature by adopting the same measures and the same standards for both men and women.' This demand for equality is, at its foundation, merely the demand for equality of opportunity and for recognition in those enterprises and activities which she feels competent to enter. No true woman would repudiate the natural leadership of strong and masterful men. The protest is not against such men. It is rather against the dictation and domination of men whom she knows to be her intellectual, as well as moral, inferiors.
The protest of the "new woman" is, in fact, a protest against the lamentable scarcity of masters.
This highest relation in which man and woman are to realize the ideal is being slowly but surely wrought out by time.
The intellectual dependence which man seeks from woman, and the intellectual equality of which woman dreams, are one and the same thing, and are already foreshadowed in the higher races. The processes of the higher evolution are slowly but surely adjusting these two powers into perfect balance.
This intellectual and moral interdependence, reciprocity and companionship of two intelligent beings, is the highest ideal of which the human mind is capable, and a philosophy which con- serves Nature declares that this ideal is already working itself out as a very practical, tangible, earthly reality.
This ideal is realized wherever the principles of aggressive and receptive intelligence strike the true balance in any individual man and woman.
Every woman acknowledges that principle when she finds the Master.