hile the abolition of fixed tendencies toward definite ends has been mourned by many as if it involved adespiritualization of na- ture, it is in fact aprecondition of the projection of new ends and of the possibility of realizing them through intentional activity. Objects which are not fixed goals of nature and which have no inherent defining forms become candidates for receiving new qualities} means for serving new purposes. Until natural objects were denuded of determinate ends which were regarded as the proper outcome of the intrinsic tendency of nature's own operations, nature could not become aplastic material of human desires and purposes.