THE HUMAN SIDE OF APES 



primarily to his much finer intellect and to the greater variety 

 and delicacy of his emotions and sentiments. Probably no 

 animal can appreciate the beauty of a sunset or the charm 

 of an attractive landscape. If we can rightly boast of any 

 moral superiority over our less favored animal associates it 

 is not because we are more devoted to our own kind or 

 follow more faithfully the standards of our own particular 

 group; it is because we are consciously moral and are able 

 to make moral judgments and talk about right and wrong; 

 and we can do these things simply because we have much 

 better minds and a richer emotional life than our animal 

 progenitors. 



The fear that the foundations of morality would be under- 

 mined if it were proved that we are derived from an animal 

 ancestry is eminently absurd. The foundations of moral life 

 lie deeply rooted in the domestic and social instincts, which 

 form the mainsprings of action in animals and men alike. 

 We do not speak of sympathy, mutual helpfulness, or paren- 

 tal love (Fig. 1) as parts of our so-called ''animal nature,'* 

 although in consistency we should do so, for these traits are 

 as much a part of the nature of animals as ferocity or greed. 

 It is traits such as affection, sympathy, and group loyalty that 

 constitute the basis of our moral impulses and sentiments. 

 Our social and altruistic impulses are no less worthy of 

 esteem if they are shared by less highly developed creatures 

 than ourselves. Like the lower animals, we are in general 

 sympathetic and helpful to aur own kind. To our enemies 

 and the enemies of our country we are hostile, and often 

 cruel. All this is human nature. It is also animal nature. 

 In man and animals love and antipathy, courage and 

 cowardice, self-sacrifice and selfishness, loyalty and decep- 

 tion, play much the same part in determining behavior. 

 We play the game of life less simply and crudely than the 



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