Thus we have first a stage of fatherless, natural conception,
corresponding with the philosophical theories which maintained that all
created things had sprung from the elements. Later ages discovered a
spiritual principle, a becoming, or an eternal being, and finally a
conflict between spirit and matter.
But the general attitude towards sexual intercourse underwent a change
as soon as here and there individuals appeared who were conscious of
their individuality. Natural selection could not come into play in a
community the members of which resembled one another so closely that all
personal characteristics were obliterated in a general monotony. One
woman was as good as another, although in all probability a healthy,
youthful and strong individual would be preferred to a sickly, puny
specimen. But apart from this, the wish to choose a partner instead of
being content with the first comer, must have coincided historically
with the outward, and later on with the inward differentiation of the
race.
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