130 Innateness, Simplicity, Etc. 



slaves of imitation and of habit, should have 

 deemed moral precepts self-evident and the prac 

 tice of them an end in itself ? 



Equally with the simplicity and ultimateness 

 of our moral conceptions, the evolutionist ex 

 plains their innateness. Agreeing with the in- 

 tuitionist that these notions are part of the orig 

 inal furniture of every mind that comes into the 

 world, the evolutiono-utilitarian holds them to be 

 ultimately derived from experience ; and if he be 

 a hedonist, Hive Mr. Spencer, he will add, from 

 experience of pleasurable or painful consequences, 

 though this experience is by him relegated to 

 the past history of mankind. u Moral intui 

 tions are the results of accumulated experiences of 

 utility.&quot; Just as the emotion you feel in visiting 

 the home of your 4 youth seems unique and inexplic 

 able, yet is manifestly due to a vague recollection 

 of joys formerly associated with the objects that 

 surround you, so, it has been ingeniously suggested 

 by M. Fouillee, the sentiments which accompany 

 the performance of virtuous acts are the perfume 

 of an earthy soil a kind of recollection or in 

 distinct echo, not only of our own pleasures, but 

 of the joys of the entire race. And it is this rever 

 beration over the ages of a utility for the race that 

 we take for an innate tendency to disinterestedness. 



