Note 15 — Chapter XX · FABRE’S WRITINGS (CONTINUED)

And, first of all, what is reason? Philosophy will give us learned definitions. Let us be modest; let us stick to the simplest; we are only dealing with animals. Reason is the faculty which refers the effect to the cause, the means to the end, and directs the action by making it conform to the requirements of the accidental. Within these limits is the animal able to reason? Does it understand how to associate a because with a why, and behave in accordance? Can it, confronted with an accident, alter its line of conduct?15