PART III 



DARWINISM, OR STRUGGLE FOR EXISTENCE 



CHAPTER XI 



"DARWINISM IN MORALS" MISS COBBE'S PROTEST 



Darwinism may be applied to morals by analogy Or, as here, by explaining 

 man's evolutionary origin Miss Cobbe attacks Darwin's explanation of the 

 rise of morals out of intelligence plus sympathy And the hypothetical 

 palliation of murder Little trace of natural selection in Darwin's ethical 

 statement Darwin's analysis may be accepted, not his view of reason. 



IT is not necessary again to recapitulate the leading 

 points of Darwinism. Nor is it desirable to pause at 

 present in order to weigh some very grave metaphysical 

 objections 1 to the terminology and conceptions with 

 which Mr. Darwin went to work. We are more 

 concerned to ask how Darwinian ideas have affected 

 the theories of morals or of society which follow 

 biological lines. 



1 Urged with great force by Dr. Hutchison Stirling, and incidentally 

 brought out with masterly power in Mr. George Sandeman's Problems of 

 Biology. Mr. Sandeman's statements go far to convince one that 

 Darwin's theory is only a possible way of putting the process of evolution 

 for purposes of study, and by no means an account of the way in which 

 the process actually took place. It might have happened just so, by 

 random shots, and constant weeding, in the course of endless time. But 

 did it ? 



Possibly Mr. Sandeman himself might prefer a more sweeping 

 verdict. See further in Chapter XVII. 



