Darwin s Ethical Theory. 175 



finally comes to feel, through acquired and, per 

 haps, inherited habit, that it is best for him to 

 obey his more persistent impulses. These alone 

 give meaning to the imperious word Ouglit^ 

 which u seems merely to imply the consciousness 

 of a rule of conduct, however it may have origi 

 nated.&quot; 



Such is Darwin s famous theory of the moral 

 sense. Its significance for speculative ethics is 

 a sufficient justification of the detailed account 

 here given of it an account I have striven to 

 make accurate, often by reproducing the very 

 language of the original. The next considera 

 tion is, whether an unprejudiced seeker after 

 truth can rest in Darwin s theory as a satisfac 

 tory philosophy of morals. 



One thing must be stated at the outset. Dar 

 win s treatment of the phenomena of morals dif 

 fers essentially, not only from his treatment of the 

 phenomena of life, but also from his treatment of 

 the phenomena of intelligence. Nor is the con 

 trast difficult to explain. Life, as all admit, is 

 common to man and the animals ; and, as Dar 

 win adduced grounds for believing, there is no 

 fundamental difference between human and ani 

 mal intelligence. Now, if Darwin s aim was to 

 break down the wall of partition which unscien- 



V 



