William James defines Instinct as “the faculty of acting in such a way
as to produce certain ends, without foresight of the ends, and without
previous education in the performance.” Of late years, much controversy
has arisen as to instinct--some authorities contending that it does
not exist, (in the old-fashioned sense of the term) while others have
postulated a number of different instincts--all more or less primitive
and innate. (McDougall).
Instincts are certainly impulses--to perform some action. They vary
greatly in complexity, and are by no means always blind or invariable.
They often resemble thought--and yet it is certain that no actual
thought is concerned in them. Instincts may be inhibited by habits;
they are also transitory. They are well adapted to certain ends, and
an animal or an insect will perform quite complicated actions, under
entirely novel circumstances. Most of the work done upon instincts,
until lately, was done upon animals of the lower order; but, more
recently, much attention has been paid to human instincts, and some
authorities have contended that human beings have more instincts than
the lower animals.
Instinct will usually cause the creature in question to perform actions
compatible with its own safety and self-preservation. Instinct thus
grades naturally into Emotion, which will next be considered.