THE CLAIMS OF THE STATE 33 



adapt themselves to the circumstances of their exist- 

 ence. The strongest, the most self-assertive, tend to 

 tread down the weaker. But the influence of the 

 cosmic process on the evolution of society is the greater 

 the more rudimentary its civilization. Social progress 

 means a checking of the cosmic process at every step 

 and the substitution for it of another, which may be 

 called the ethical process ; the end of which is not the 

 survival of those who may happen to be the fittest, in 

 respect of the whole of the conditions which exist, 

 but of those who are ethically the best. ( 19 ) 



As I have already urged, the practice of that which 

 is ethically best what we call goodness or virtue 

 involves a course of conduct which, in all respects, is 

 opposed to that which leads to success in the cosmic 

 struggle for existence. In place of ruthless self- 

 assertion it demands self-restraint ; in place of 

 thrusting aside, or treading down, all competitors, it 

 requires that the individual shall not merely respect, 

 but shall help his fellows ; its influence is directed, not 

 so much to the survival of the fittest, as to the fitting 

 of as many as possible to survive. It repudiates the 

 gladiatorial theory of existence. It demands that each 

 man who enters into the enjoyment of the advantages 

 of a polity shall be mindful of his debt to those who 

 have laboriously constructed it ; and shall take heed 

 that no act of his weakens the fabric in which 

 he has been permitted to live. Laws and moral 

 precepts are directed to the end of curbing the 

 cosmic process and reminding the individual of his 

 duty to the community, to the protection and in- 



D 



