Butnaturedoesnotsaythatcatsaremorevaluablethanmice；
naturemakesnoremarkonthesubject。Shedoesnotevensaythatthecatisenviableorthemousepitiable。Wethinkthecatsuperiorbecausewehave（ormostofushave）aparticularphilosophytotheeffectthatlifeisbetterthandeath。ButifthemousewereaGermanpessimistmouse，hemightnotthinkthatthecathadbeatenhimatall。Hemightthinkhehadbeatenthecatbygettingtothegravefirst。Orhemightfeelthathehadactuallyinflictedfrightfulpunishmentonthecatbykeepinghimalive。
Justasamicrobemightfeelproudofspreadingapestilence，sothepessimisticmousemightexulttothinkthathewasrenewinginthecatthetortureofconsciousexistence。Italldependsonthephilosophyofthemouse。Youcannotevensaythatthereisvictoryorsuperiorityinnatureunlessyouhavesomedoctrineaboutwhatthingsaresuperior。Youcannotevensaythatthecatscoresunlessthereisasystemofscoring。Youcannotevensaythatthecatgetsthebestofitunlessthereissomebesttobegot。
Wecannot，then，gettheidealitselffromnature，andaswefollowherethefirstandnaturalspeculation，wewillleaveout（forthepresent）theideaofgettingitfromGod。
Wemusthaveourownvision。Buttheattemptsofmostmodernstoexpressitarehighlyvague。