PRIMARY IDEALS NATURE OF PRIMARY IDEALISM -- THE IDEAL OF A "WE" OR MORALUNITY -- IT DOES NOT EXCLUDE SELF-ASSERTION -- IDEALS SPRINGING FROM HOSTILITY-- LOYALTY， TRUTH， SERVICE -- KINDNESS -- LAWFULNESS -- FREEDOM -- THEDOCTRINE OF NATURAL RIGHT -- BEARING OF PRIMARY IDEALISM UPON EDUCATIONAND PHILANTHROPY
LIFE in the primary groups gives rise to social ideals which， as they spring from similar experiences， have much in common throughout the human race.And these naturally become the motive and test of social progress.
Under all systems men strive， however blindly， to realize objects suggested by the familiar experience of primary association Where do we get our notions of love， freedom， justice， and the like which we are ever applying to social institutions？ Not from abstract philosophy， surely， but from the actual life of simple and widespread forms of society， like the family or the play-group.In these relations mankind realizes itself， gratifies its primary needs， in a fairly satisfactory manner， and from the experience forms standards of what it is to expect from more elaborate association.Since groups of this sort are never obliterated from human experience， but flourish more or less under all kinds of institutions， they remain an enduring criterion by which the latter are ultimately judged.
Of course these simpler relations are not uniform for all societies， but vary considerably with race， with the general state of civilization， and with the particular sort of institutions that may prevail.The primary groups themselves are subject to improvement and decay， and need to be watched and cherished with a very special care.
Neither is it claimed that， at the best， they realize ideal conditions；only that they approach them more nearly than anything else in general experience， and so form the practical basis on which higher imaginations are built.They are not always pleasant or righteous， but they almost always contain elements from which ideals of pleasantness and righteousness may be formed.
The ideal that grows up in familiar association may be said to be a part of human nature itself.In its most general form it is that of a moral whole or community wherein individual minds are merged and the higher capacities of the members find total and adequate expression.And it grows up because familiar association fills our minds with imaginations of the thought and feeling of other members of the group， and of the group as a whole， so that， for many purposes， we really make them a part of ourselves and identify our self-feeling with them.
Children and savages do not formulate any such ideal， but they have it nevertheless； they see it； they see themselves and their fellows as an indivisible， though various， " we，" and they desire this " we " to be harmonious， happy， and successful.How heartily one may merge himself in the family and in the fellowships of youth is perhaps within the experience of all of us； and we come to feel that the same spirit should extend to our country， our race， our world."All the abuses which are the objects of reform.
..are unconsciously amended in the intercourse of friends." ， A congenial family life is the immemorial type of moral unity， and source of many of the terms -- such as brotherhood， kindness， and the like梬hich describe it.The members become merged by intimate association into a whole wherein each age and sex participates in its own way.Each lives in imaginative contact with the minds of the others， and finds in them the dwelling-place of his social self， of his affections， ambitions， resentments， and standards of right and wrong.Without uniformity， there is yet unity， a free， pleasant， wholesome， fruitful， common life.
As to the playground， Mr.Joseph Lee， in an excellent paper on Play as a School of the Citizen， gives the following account of the merging of the one in the whole that may be learned from sport.The boy， he says， "is deeply participating in a common purpose.The team and the plays that it executes are present in a very vivid manner to his consciousness His conscious individuality is more thoroughly lost in the sense of membership than perhaps it ever becomes in any other way.So that the sheer experience of citizenship in its simplest and essential form梠f the sharing in a public consciousness， of having the social organization present as a controlling ideal in your heart梚s very intense...
Along with the sense of the team as a mechanical instrument， and unseparated from it in the boy's mind， is the consciousness of it as the embodiment of a common purpose.There is in team play a very intimate experience of the ways in which such a purpose is built up and made effective.You feel， though without analysis， the subtle ways in which a single strong character breaks out the road ahead and gives confidence to the rest to follow； how the creative power of one ardent imagination， bravely sustained， makes possible the putting through of the play as he conceives it.You feel to the marrow Of your bones how each loyal member contributes to the salvation of all the others by holding the conception of the whole play so firmly in his mind 11.9to enable them to hold it， and to participate in his single-minded determination to see it carried out.You have intimate experience of the ways in which individual members contribute to the team and of how the team， in turn， builds up their spiritual nature...
And the team is not only an extension of the player's consciousness；it is a part of his personality.His participation has deepened from cooperation to membership.Not only is he now a part of the team， but the team is a part of him."