XXVII 



THE GROUNDS OF RATIONAL OPTIMISM 



IF, now, having denned the varieties of optimism, 

 and having noticed certain erroneous inferences 

 from the law of organic evolution, we proceed more 

 precisely to inquire into the grounds of a rational 

 optimism, we must begin by making the convenient, 

 though philosophically untenable, distinction be 

 tween &quot;physical&quot; and &quot;moral&quot; evil. And, physi 

 cal evil being prior in order of time, we may first 

 consider the evolutionary grounds for optimism in 

 this respect first as regards the present and then 

 as regards the future. 



Thinkers in all ages have argued as to the bal 

 ance between pleasure and pain. Influenced in 

 the main as one may guess by their internal 

 sensations, some have declared that pleasure out 

 weighs pain, some that pain outweighs pleasure. 

 Others have inferred from certain psychological 

 considerations that, in the life of each, pleasure 

 and pain are necessarily balanced, each being 

 purely relative. 1 But this is another question 



1 An American correspondent of mine, Mr.Vogel, of Brooklyn, 

 N. Y., hence argues that the lot of all is equal that &quot; even- 

 handed justice &quot; prevails. 



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