The Management of Life 87 



establishing the verifiable relations accepted in science 

 that the individuals who have died still live as such in 

 some other condition. 



If then we are to found our outlook on the world on 

 what we discover in the scientific study of life, we are 

 compelled to break with the notion that personality, 

 individual identity, continues after death. We are 

 compelled to conclude that the individuals who have 

 disappeared exist no more than they did before they 

 began life, no more than they did before the species 

 to which they belong had been produced in evolution. 

 This I believe to be one of the fundamentals for a 

 world outlook based on the study of biology. 



This is indeed a serious verdict. If accepted, it is 

 bound to color much of life ; it is bound to affect our 

 attitude toward the world and toward living. Many 

 have held that this verdict must destroy all satisfac- 

 tion in life ; that it shows life to be futile. "Oh, life as 

 futile then as frail," said the poet, in view of this 

 verdict. Many have held that it cuts the ground from 

 under all distinctions of right and wrong, all systems 

 of ethics ; that it leaves no standards by which to live, 

 no object in living. 



But such conclusions are not logical inferences; 

 they do not necessarily follow; they are but reflec- 

 tions of personal disappointment. When the sharp- 

 ness of that disappointment has passed away, one 

 finds standards of living, distinctions of right and 

 wrong, an object in living — all these things — in 

 much the same situation as before. If immediate ex- 

 perience finds life to be good while it lasts — as for 



