INTKODUCTION 13 



first, why we value some kinds of conduct and condemn 

 others, and, secondly, why there are degrees both of value 

 and of condemnation. If it is asked what that end is, 

 the plain and certain answer is this we do not know ; 

 and, until we discover it, we must be content to regard as 

 good or bad in themselves all those empirical ends which 

 we either value or condemn. 



We need not, however, give up the inquiry on the first 

 check. A further cross-examination of our value-judge 

 ments may wring from them, if not their whole secret, 

 some knowledge, at any rate, that is worth having. Our 

 first result is negative. No one of the ends which we have 

 rejected as the possible final end of evolution can be accepted 

 as the final end of human conduct ; not harmony, because 

 many men, and those not the least highly honoured, prefer 

 a life of strenuous conflict ; nor happiness, for there are 

 very few who value nothing more, and they who do are 

 not the most highly respected ; nor, for the same want of 

 comprehension, any other single recognized end of human 

 action. 



In another respect the valuations of conduct agree with 

 the process of forward evolution. In the same way as the 

 latter is endangered by the excessive development of any 

 one principle which disturbs the adjustment of the whole 

 specific complex to its surroundings ; so, classes of motive 

 which are usually of a high value cease to be admired when 

 they are in excess. This principle, though its practical 

 application is often a matter of some difficulty, may easily 

 be exemplified. The religious motive is, normally, perhaps 

 the most highly valued of all ; but, when its influence 

 becomes excessive, the value, instead of increasing, gives 

 place to condemnation. It is then called bigotry, or super 

 stition. It should be remarked that the law of excess 

 applies only to the influence of empirical ends-in-them- 

 selves, and not to the means to those ends. There can 

 be no excess of utility, or of the adaptation of means to 

 a known end. If, to anticipate the conclusion of our 

 argument, increase of force is the test of good conduct, and 



