188 The Journal 
All of the combatants in the present 
world war believe that they are fighting 
for the cause of civilization; but they 
do not define what they mean by civil- 
ization, and it is doubtful whether they 
really know. To the author, Civiliza- 
tion “is the one-word designation of 
the grade of evolution for one organic 
species, Homo sapiens, in respect to 
those attributes which set it off most 
sharply from all other species. It 7s 
evolution, though only a part of it, 
albeit an overwhelmingly important 
Part.” 
Now civilization in this sense, the 
author goes on to show, is incompatible 
with great empire. ‘More disastrously 
fallacious reasoning was never carried 
on than that according to which a 
nation’s status in civilization is de- 
pendent upon its territorial and econo- 
mic extent. : . . The reasoning that 
would justify strife for unlimited pos- 
sessions just for the sake of having 
them, would be paralleled by reasoning 
that because the individual cannot live 
without food, therefore he should try to 
eat all the food in sight.” 
The nation which wishes to achieve 
a high degree of civilization, then, can- 
not spend its energy squabbling over 
boundary lines, but must devote itself 
to developing civilizing processes. It 
must recognize that science furnishes 
the groundwork for a great rational 
faith in man’s capacity for indefinite 
progress. It must recognize that the 
phenomena of cooperation, coordina- 
tion or, as the author prefers to say, 
integration, are just as much a part of 
evolution as are the phenomena of 
differentiation, which we usually have 
in mind when we think of evolution. 
The militarists who are seeking shelter 
behind biology commonly ignore this, 
and speak of a “right of conquest” as 
something sacred, because it has existed 
in the past. 
“Such arguing is intolerable to a 
consistent evolutionist. In the use 
made of the doctrine by political leaders, 
diplomatists, and militarists, the utmost 
contradictoriness and confusion prevail. 
On the one hand they borrow from biol- 
ogy and use with the greatest assurance 
such vague phrases as ‘struggle for 
of Heredity 
existence’ and ‘survival of the fittest,’ 
while on the other hand they seem quite 
oblivious to the essential idea of for- 
ward movement and growing interde- 
pendence among men, the very essence 
of progress in civilization.” 
“From the standpoint of biological 
evolution, progress in civilization may 
be characterized as the differentiation 
and intensification of love and intellect, 
and of the intellectualizing of love and 
the affectionizing of intellect.’ 
A CHANGE IN POLITICS 
Now the author inquires, if such a 
view of human nature were generally 
adcpted, as being based on scientific 
grounds, and if man should at the same 
time get “the mighty faith that there is 
practically no limit to nature’s capacity 
for yielding to man all those things 
which, from sources outside himself, 
he truly needs,’ what would be the 
psychological result? What would be 
the effect on the attitude and conduct 
of men toward one another and toward 
nature? 
On the negative side, it would banish 
the dread of the “tragedy of popula- 
tion,’ which has been present ever 
since Malthus created it. 
On the positive side, it would imbue 
productive effort with a religious zeal. 
The tasks of conserving, developing, 
distributing, and wisely using the forces 
of nature, would be viewed in a truer 
light. Men would really gain a religious 
feeling, which would direct them in 
subjugating nature, rather than in 
subjugating men and nations. 
“Tt remains to ask what our nation 
might do at this time to forward this 
greatend. Manifestly we cannot escape 
playing some part in the grim world- 
drama now being staged. The answer 
may be short and sharp. Two sorts 
of things may be done; indeed, must be 
done, if the part we play is to be positive 
and honorable. One sort will pertain 
to the nation itself; the other to its 
relations with other nations.” 
The first thing to do is to “subject 
ourselves to a self-examination the like 
of which we have hitherto known little 
about.”’ It will result in the increase 
and improvement of our education, 
