﻿THE 
  ISSUES 
  OF 
  LIFE 
  291 
  

  

  indifference, 
  a 
  moral 
  multiverse, 
  as 
  one 
  might 
  call 
  it, 
  and 
  

   not 
  a 
  moral 
  universe. 
  To 
  such 
  a 
  harlot 
  we 
  owe 
  no 
  allegiance 
  ; 
  

   with 
  her 
  as 
  a 
  whole 
  we 
  can 
  establish 
  no 
  moral 
  communion 
  ' 
  

   (1905, 
  p. 
  43). 
  "Beauty 
  and 
  hideousness, 
  love 
  and 
  cru- 
  

   elty, 
  life 
  and 
  death 
  keep 
  house 
  together 
  in 
  indissoluble 
  

   partnership; 
  and 
  there 
  gradually 
  steals 
  over 
  us, 
  instead 
  of 
  

   the 
  old 
  warm 
  notion 
  of 
  a 
  man-loving 
  Deity, 
  that 
  of 
  an 
  awful 
  

   power 
  that 
  neither 
  hates 
  nor 
  loves, 
  but 
  rolls 
  all 
  things 
  to- 
  

   gether 
  meaninglessly 
  to 
  a 
  common 
  doom 
  ' 
  (1905, 
  p. 
  41). 
  

  

  Now 
  there 
  is 
  a 
  via 
  media 
  between 
  these 
  two 
  extreme 
  

   views, 
  and 
  it 
  is 
  the 
  path 
  of 
  accuracy. 
  On 
  the 
  one 
  hand, 
  

   we 
  must 
  not 
  pick 
  and 
  choose 
  our 
  facts, 
  selecting 
  those 
  which 
  

   suit 
  our 
  thesis 
  and 
  ignoring 
  the 
  discordant. 
  On 
  the 
  other 
  

   hand, 
  we 
  must 
  not 
  be 
  gratuitously 
  anthropomorphic, 
  project- 
  

   ing 
  upon 
  Nature 
  concepts 
  drawn 
  from 
  human 
  society 
  which 
  

   very 
  imperfectly 
  fit. 
  We 
  must 
  also 
  guard 
  against 
  allowing 
  

   human 
  sentiments, 
  as 
  to 
  supposed 
  cruelty 
  and 
  the 
  like, 
  to 
  

   lead 
  us 
  astray 
  in 
  domains 
  where 
  they 
  are 
  irrelevant. 
  We 
  

   must 
  be 
  restrained 
  and 
  critical 
  in 
  the 
  degree 
  to 
  which 
  we 
  

   read 
  ethical 
  content 
  into 
  animal 
  behaviour, 
  especially 
  when 
  

   it 
  is 
  of 
  the 
  instinctive 
  type. 
  

  

  2. 
  The 
  Twofold 
  Business 
  of 
  Life. 
  

  

  As 
  we 
  contemplate 
  the 
  drama 
  of 
  life 
  among 
  plants 
  and 
  

   animals, 
  both 
  as 
  we 
  can 
  see 
  it 
  around 
  us 
  with 
  our 
  eyes, 
  

   and 
  as 
  we 
  can 
  see 
  it 
  with 
  the 
  help 
  of 
  telephotic 
  apparatus 
  

   (such 
  as 
  the 
  microscope 
  and 
  the 
  palseontological 
  museum!), 
  

   we 
  discern 
  one 
  perennial 
  problem 
  and 
  endeavour, 
  namely 
  to 
  

   adjust 
  relations 
  between 
  the 
  active, 
  self-assertive, 
  insistent, 
  

   insurgent 
  organism 
  and 
  the 
  environment. 
  The 
  inorganic 
  

   environment 
  is 
  callous, 
  irresponsive, 
  heavy-handed, 
  yet 
  re- 
  

   markably 
  amenable 
  to 
  life's 
  purposes; 
  the 
  organic 
  environ- 
  

  

  