1 1 8 The Moment of Utility. 



Tims, as you dig down to the roots of existence, 

 you find it draws its vital sap from utility. 

 &quot; Natural selection acts solely by and for the good 

 of each.&quot; It may &quot; produce structures &quot; for the 

 direct injury of other species, but never for 

 their exclusive advantage. &quot;With certain excep 

 tions that can be explained, the structure of 

 every living creature as well as every detail of that 

 structure &quot; either now is, or was formerly, of some 

 direct or indirect use to its possessor.&quot; Similarly, 

 the instinct of each species is useful for that 

 species, and has never been produced for the ex 

 clusive benefit of another species. Could these 

 propositions be refuted, &quot; it would,&quot; says Darwin, 

 &quot;annihilate my theory,&quot; for structures and in 

 stincts could not in that case be the product of 

 natural selection. The survival of the fittest 

 implies an antecedent utility a modification ad 

 vantageous to the individual or, it may be, to the 

 community of which it is a member, but never 

 directly and exclusively to others beyond this 

 pale. Natural selection rests upon a biological 

 utilitarianism, which may be egoistic or commu 

 nistic, but which cannot be universalistic. 



Let us now apply this doctrine to man, with the 

 object of discovering its bearing upon morals. 

 &quot;We have, then, to admit that the human species 



