There are some things on which all would presumably agree, of course. For example, if a form of behavior produced acute mental misery it would presumably be regarded as unhealthy. On the other hand, suppose that quite diverse behaviors could produce a feeling of well-being, release great energies, add stimulation to one’s life, help one function enthusiastically in the world, etc. It is very clear that if the individual propounding the definition did not approve of certain of those behaviors, they would not be regarded as healthy, no matter what their results were. For example, if the individual approves of mindless sex, then imaginative sex is likely to be felt as inaesthetic or improper, and since it would be felt, by that individual, as inaesthetic or improper, he would, by a common, perhaps unconscious, subtrefuge, characterize it as sick or deviant. Usually when an individual says something is sick he means that he disapproves of it. If he meant something else, he would examine the behavior to see what its consequences in human life were. Was life made more joyous, more interesting, more worth excitingly living? But those are not the questions asked. Indeed, no questions are asked. Rather there is the automatism of reflex denigration.

It is indeed unfortunate that certain reputed social scientists confuse description and evaluation. It is an elementary fallacy. It is well for us to remember that the social and mental sciences are still in their infancy, and, indeed that, as yet, they are not genuinely sciences at all. It is likely that in the next century they will be. As of now they are handicapped by the complexity of their subject matter, their lack of scientific methodology and instrumentation, and the fact that, as of now, top minds are seldom attracted to the fields. That should change, however; perhaps it will change even within our lifetime. It is only in our time that numerous fine minds are entering biology. Perhaps the social sciences will be so fortunate in another generation or two. When hard facts can be established, when there is truly a readiness, scientific and emotional, for a form of truth, then top minds, sensing the possibilities, will gravitate toward the social sciences. They are now in the position that botany was in the Seventeenth Century. They are still observing the shapes of leaves and the coloration of petals.