SCIENCE AND MORALS. 331 



the internal domain of conscience, and the external domain of obser- 

 vation. 



The man of our time finds in the depth of his consciousness the idea 

 of good and evil, and the ineffaceable feeling of duty that is the cate- 

 gorical imperative of Kant. Duty is further conceived as toward him- 

 self and toward other men — that is, he comprehends the solidarity 

 of his relations. These are fundamental facts of consciousness, in- 

 dependent of all theological or metaphysical hypothesis. The ideas 

 acquired from the exterior source of our consciousness — that is, from 

 history and the natural sciences — present morality under a different 

 light, in that they show the instinctive origin and the evolution of it. 

 The human species, in fact, only represents a particular case among 

 the multitude of animal species that live in society. With these 

 we witness, according to the degree of perfection they manifest, the 

 appearance of the first elements of morals. The family, offspring 

 of the instincts that preside over the preservation of the species, 

 exists, temporarily at least, among birds and mammals, not to go 

 lower. It coexists with the feeling of maternal love, and in certain 

 cases of paternal love, raised to the highest degree. 



With the feeling of the family we meet also, among the social 

 species, that of solidarity and the devotion of the individual to the 

 collective whole, rising sometimes to the sacrifice of his life. The 

 study of the still savage human races has shown how near their 

 special morality lies to that of the social animal species, if it is not 

 even inferior to that of some of them. There are, in this respect, 

 great differences in the social instincts, among men as well as among 

 animals. But the existence of a general basis common to both is 

 demonstrated by observation. 



The social instincts, and the feelings and duties derived from 

 them, are not, then, peculiar to the human species, and due to some 

 strange and divine revelation, but are inherent in the cerebral and 

 physiological constitution of man — a constitution similar to that of 

 the animals, but of a superior order, and having become more so 

 during the course of centuries by the effects of the conquests of our 

 intelligence. The hereditary perfection of these instincts is the real 

 basis of morals, and the point of departure for the organization of 

 civilized societies. 



As men advanced in civilization, their positive knowledge, con- 

 tinually increasing, demonstrated the social utility of certain duties 

 and certain moral laws, which were rendered obligatory by the chiefs 

 of the states — priests and legislators. But these laws, deduced from 

 scientific notions, were associated and in a manner amalgamated 

 with the arbitrary prescriptions of the theocracy, and proclaimed 

 according to mystic formulas, from which no mind was then free. 



