Man exists through his essence and natural flux, the moving center. By his essence, Santayana means the innermost of a man, driven by the desire of self-reproduction, a very basic and yet primitive animal instinct. The continuous flux enforces man to set higher ideal and the action is encouraged by the one’s soul. The idea of motion supports many of the values introduced in the chapter of love, family, free and ideal society. Motion gives the essence, a self a motivation of exerts himself forward for ideal, and a higher set of goals, and it also describes the process of man’s actual transformation in his thoughts and position in society. Man is in perpetual motion to reach the equilibrium of the ideal state that keeps on changing from all experience he gets. This repetition of perpetual motion of a man explains the man’s intense desire to procreate. Therefore, the idea of motion and its relation to man’s soul and essence, that allows man to create his role in society and his position within, is crucial. Reproduction is the primary over nutrition for it has a potentiality of transferring a man’s essence to a yet to be created body form. Reproduction is a non-natural occurrence that initiates life, which satisfies man, for he has achieved transferring his very soul to a new creature. Man is in perpetual motion to reach the equilibrium of the ideal state that keeps on changing from all experience he gets. This is where love comes into the analysis. The cause of reproduction can be the nature of a man to forward his inner flux or love, achieving personal satisfaction that may vary in each occasion. Santayana makes a clear distinction between love and reproduction that is solely based on the physical bonding. Love is an amazingly superficial process that a man’s consciousness endures. Passion that backs up the inexplicable state of human varies due to age, gender, race and individuals, which in relation influences the cause and effect of love. Falling in love can be instantaneous, if the timing, person or a man’s mood is right. Emotional evolvement with another human being definitely separates men from animals, although men are animals with constant natural flux. Sentiment and emotion is also another effect of love. Reproduction can be done only to fulfill the need of having children, or the act of procreating can be done to provide the maximum satisfaction of the body. Reproduction is the cause of love, again, distinguishing the human race from the animals. After producing the offspring, the love transforms into rather non-passionate companionship. The love and attention moves to the offspring for providing the most suitable environment.
Ideal behind each value such as love, family, and free and ideal society, is constantly in motion. For Santayana, love is ideal for it nourishes the existing beings, and once yearning of physical relationship due to love is satisfied, then man is free from observations and other fantasies that he goes through. Family is another ideal form of love for its members have a sense of non-conditional love. The love between the husband and wife begins to fade away as time goes by, and after they have their own offspring. The passionate love between them is channeled to the children, shifting the center of affection from between the parents to the children. Yet, man does not hold to seek for satisfaction. He begins to transfer his essence to the newborn, starting with proper behaviors to suitable education that is needed for the newborn to make his own life. The relationship between the husband and wife becomes more of non-passionate friendship. Here, the element of passion is diminished amongst them and it is considered as the norm to have women’s husbands to be unfaithful and rather be more interested in their children.
Such transition takes place in many different aspects of life. The reciprocal exchange of emotion is related to the morality issue as well. Human’s emotion stems from their essence, that develops based on the experience and knowledge they get over time, and the forwarding of the essence occurs in family, from a father to an offspring, from a man to another member of society, and so on. This results in unison in opinion in people and the offspring as well.
Santayana states that society is a nature object just like the other materials. Society embodies the past and future for it has been existed even the human beings were oblivious of it. There are three domains; natural society, free society, and ideal society. The natural society can be considered as the immature, primitive stage of all three social levels. As it was fore mentioned, love produces a family due to man’s desire to procreate, and then on, the concept of family teaches and practices the concept of society. The offspring at the time grows, and repeats the process of reproduction and becoming a part of the society. Although humans are animals with similar instincts, mankind has extremely limited life. Therefore, man are constantly forced and urged to bestow his essence to the yet to be created creature to be refreshed and developed again. Here, Santayana’s emphasis on cause and effect relationship is applied to this idea of procreation. The cause of reproduction can be the nature of a man to forward his inner flux or love, achieving personal satisfaction that may vary in each occasion. Passion that backs up the inexplicable state of human varies due to age, gender, race and individuals, which in relation influences the cause and effect of love. Falling in love can be instantaneous, if the timing, person or a man’s mood is right. Emotional evolvement with another human being definitely separates men from animals, although men are animals with constant natural flux. Sentiment and emotion is also another effect of love. Reproduction can be done only to fulfill the need of having children, or the act of procreating can be done to provide the maximum satisfaction of the body. Reproduction is the cause of love, again, distinguishing the human race from the animals.
Once men achieves the primary task of reproduction, then on, they can move on the to the next level of society, free society. As men participate in more projects and events with the others, they become more self-conscious. His ideals are not ideals but measurements that he or the others would use. Man’s happiness depends on the other’s opinion and how they are measured from the other’s perspective. Ideals are no longer a motivation, but an unreachable moving flux. Ideals and his goals that he has achieved in his life are being regarded bigger than the actual person.
A natural society embodies any creature that exists in space. However, it is necessary to recognize that it evolves from the man himself. The transferal of his very essence creates offspring, which then becomes a family that constructs society. In family structure, the father becomes the absolute guidance over his young ones. He educate them the ideas and knowledge that he believes are necessary. The act is not something that was taught to him, but came to him naturally, almost logically. The establishment of natural society and the superiority of rational interest are effortlessly natural. There is no cause and effect relationship in its existence, but the fluctuation of the flux. Man, the participant of the society, becomes more conscious of self. His existence is compared to the other members of the society, and he becomes more aware of self and self among the group. His happiness is depending on the other’s observation on him, and his reputation. His consciousness gradually becomes obsessed with his reputation in the minds of the others, and eventually becomes an interdependent being.
Then man moves on to the nest level of society, ideal society. Based on reasons, as Santayana puts, that express purpose, and purpose endures impulses, and lastly, the impulses express a natural body with equilibrating powers. The essence moves from one conscious to the other conscious, and the rational interest moves on amidst man as well. Such impulses create satisfaction, when it’s fully achieved. The interdependent nature of men in society brings them to focus more on their consciousness and how their reputations are presented as. Their goals become goals of the others, and the expected normal state is created. Men of society creates normalcy that they think that needs to be followed.
