The Moral Vision
Man’s True Purpose in Life
~ 133 ~
becomes purposeful only when it goes beyond
common animalism and takes the form of superior
humanism.
God’s creations in this world fall into two
categories: animate and inanimate. Obviously,
animate objects enjoy a certain superiority over
inanimate objects. The former can be divided into
three classes: the vegetable, the animal and the
human. Modern scientific research has shown that
plants also possess life, in that they nourish
themselves, they grow and they have feelings.
But animals and men surely represent a higher form
of life. In what way does man excel animals? Many
theories have been advanced in answer to this
question over the ages, and great minds are still
studying it. But modern biologists have come to the
conclusion that it is man’s capacity for conceptual
thought which distinguishes him from other life-
forms. Animals lack this quality, whereas man is
conscious of the fact that he is thinking. He
consciously forms a plan of action in his mind; in
his everyday life his actions are determined by
himself. Whereas this is not the case with animals.
