EDITOR'S TABLE. 



411 



have to admit that he is a more suita- 

 hle subject for a severely authoritative 

 regime than for any system of intel- 

 lectual and moral liberty. Such a man 

 doubtless needs the most alluring in- 

 ducements on the one hand, and the dir- 

 est threatenings on the other, to keep him 

 from frequent transgressions. Not that 

 the transgressions themselves would not 

 in many cases entail punishments which, 

 had they been foreseen, would have de- 

 terred him from misconduct, but simply 

 because when a man is so constituted 

 that, without any prepossession in favor 

 of right-doing, he calculates over again 

 on each occasion the probable conse- 

 quences of a given act, the voice of pres- 

 ent passion or desire is very apt to 

 dominate all other pleas. Such a man 

 is a mere moral pauper, starving him- 

 self on " beggarly elements," instead of 

 nourishing himself and building himself 

 up on well-developed moral principles. 

 Long before Mr. Spencer, the English 

 philosopher Hobbes dealt very well 

 with this point. " The fool hath said 

 in his heart there is no such thing as 

 justice; and sometimes also with his 

 tongue ; seriously alleging that, every 

 man's conservation and contentment be- 

 ing committed to his own care, there 

 could be no reason why every man 

 might not do what he thought conduced 

 thereunto ; and therefore also to make 

 or not make, keep or not keep, cove- 

 nants was not against reason when it 

 conduced to one's own benefit." After 

 thus stating the case of "the fool," 

 Hobbes goes on to point out that such 

 a man takes up a position of hostility 

 to society, and therefore " can in rea- 

 son expect no other means of safety 

 than what can be had from his own 

 single power," and "can not be received 

 in any society that unite themselves for 

 peace and defense, but by the error of 

 them that receive him." His conclusion 

 is that "justice is a rule of reason by 

 which we are forbidden to do anything 

 destructive to our life, and consequently 

 a law of Nature." 



The fool who says in his heart that 



there is no such thing as justice is gen- 

 erally enough of a knave not to say it 

 aloud ; and so far he pays homage to 

 what he recognizes as a settled convic- 

 tion of mankind. The science of ethics 

 teaches us how conduct becomes ethical 

 in its character, through what suc- 

 cessively higher stages it passes, and 

 wherein a true moral equilibrium con- 

 sists. It can do no more. It is for 

 every man to determine for himself how 

 far he is influenced or means to be in- 

 fluenced by the knowledge that certain 

 courses of action make for the elevation 

 of his own character and the benefit of 

 the world, while others make in an en- 

 tirely opposite direction. If any man 

 declares that such a manifestation of 

 the truth influences him not at all, it 

 would be well for him to seek the re- 

 straints and persuasives of some other 

 system ; or, if he means to enter upon 

 a war against society, to take his meas- 

 ures with the greatest caution. It is 

 some satisfaction to think that, among 

 those who take the scientific view of 

 ethics, there is rather more inclination 

 of the heart toward what is right than 

 among those who reject that view chiefly 

 on the ground of its too feeble sanc- 

 tions. "K." himself seems to admit 

 this, and, if so, we do not see why he 

 should feel discouraged. In conclusion, 

 we may say that, if we have not fully 

 met our correspondent's difficulties, we 

 shall be happy to return to the subject, 

 and deal as specifically as possible with 

 any point he may suggest for discussion. 

 "We say this, not because there are not 

 many other questions claiming attention, 

 but because we are strongly convinced 

 that there is not to-day a more impor- 

 tant issue than this of the soundness 

 and sufficiency of the evolutionary view 

 of ethics. 



CULTURE FOB ITS OWN SAKE. 



This is a thing a good deal talked 

 about, but which does not bear very 

 close investigation. All work, all effort 

 must have an object; otherwise it is 

 not determined to any end, guided in 



