xx SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS 259 



of analogy to human relations. Now this Darwinian 

 doctrine is immensely important. True, or false, or 

 half true and we must not suppose that the truth of 

 evolution, even of organic evolution, stands or falls 

 with Darwinism Darwinism still remains as when 

 first promulgated, the one dominant theory. It 

 "holds the field." While the factors of Spencer's 

 assumed cosmic evolution are shadowy and vague, the 

 factors of natural selection are or seem to most minds 

 plain and undeniable. They may carry us far, or 

 they may carry us only a short distance ; but they are 

 verce causce. 



Darwinism is applied by Bagehot to nations and to 

 political life generally; by Professor Alexander to the 

 conflict of ethical ideals. In neither case does the 

 assumed evolution follow the lines of true Darwinism. 

 Apart from war, Bagehot recognises imitation (cf. Pro- 

 fessor Baldwin) and free discussion as the great factors 

 in progress or change. Both of these are psychical 

 factors ; they make for evolution directly, not in- 

 directly ; they may be expected to move much more 

 quickly than natural selection. Professor Alexander 

 again (as we concluded), so far as he makes the conflict 

 of ethical ideals look like a Darwinian struggle, does 

 this by distorting his facts. We may add here that his 

 vision of endlessly successive ideals has no authority 

 from Darwinism. In nature, we see clearly that the 

 process of organic evolution has its definite limits, 

 and comes, now on one line and now on another, to a 

 fixed goal. And the assertion that the reigning ideal 

 is the true ideal for its time, though only for its time, 

 finds no justification in the world of nature or in 

 Darwinism. It implies some other philosophy ; and 

 the unknown philosophy does not attract us. 



