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fascinating question is likely to remain forever beyond the reach of
certainty.
227- The inner life of animals. To what extent animals other than humans
228 have feelings that approach ours has been extensively debated; see von
Uexkull (1921). Recent studies of primates who communicate with peo
ple seem to suggest that some of them do have emotions even in the
absence of concrete stimuli (e.g., that they can feel sad at the memory
of a departed companion), but the evidence on this issue does not yet
appear conclusive.
228 The consciousness of preliterate people. Among many others, the
anthropologist Robert Redfield (1955) argued that tribal societies were
too simple and homogeneous for their members to be able to take a
self-reflective stance toward their beliefs and actions. Before the first
urban revolution made cities possible about 5,000 years ago, people
tended to accept the reality their culture presented to them without
much question, and had no alternatives to conformity. Others, such as
the anthropologist Paul Radin (1927), have claimed to find great philo
sophical sophistication and freedom of conscience among “primitive”
people. It is doubtful that this ancient debate will be resolved soon.
229 Leo Tolstoy’s novella has been often reprinted; see Tolstoy (1886
[1985]).
That the complexification of social roles has resulted in the complex-
ification of consciousness has been argued by De Roberty (1878) and by
Draghicesco (1906), who developed elaborate theoretical models of so
cial evolution based on the assumption that intelligence is a function of
the frequency and intensity of human interactions; and by many others
ever since, including the Russian psychologists Vygotsky (1978) and
Luria (1976).
Sartre’s concept of the project is described in Being and Nothingness
(1956). The concept of “propriate strivings” was introduced by Allport
(1955). For the concept of life theme, defined as “a set of problems
which a person wishes to solve above everything else and the means the
person finds to achieve solution,” see Csikszentmihalyi & Beattie
(1979).
231 Hannah Arendt (1963) wrote an authoritative analysis of the life of
Adolf Eichmann.
The autobiography of Malcolm X (1977) is a classic description of
the development of a life theme.
233 Blueprint of negentropic life themes. The counterintuitive notion
that transference of attention from personal problems to the problems
of others helps personal growth underlies the work of the developmental
