Darwin s Ethical Theory. 187 



violation of duty. It matters little in what sense 

 this or any other term is used in philosophical 

 literature, provided only the definition be given, 

 though there is a manifest advantage in keeping 

 as close as possible to popular usage. What is 

 of importance is that in fixing the connotation of 

 words the things to be named shall not be over 

 looked. And that all the moral phenomena re 

 ferred by the vulgar to conscience actually exist 

 will not be questioned by any thinker (whatever 

 his definition of the word conscience) who has 

 ever perceived one course of action to be right 

 and another wrong, who has recognized the au 

 thority of the right over him, and who, on defy 

 ing the right and choosing the wrong, has ex 

 perienced the pangs of remorse. 



As Darwin supplies us with a theory of the 

 genesis of conscience, it is necessary to determine 

 what he means by that term. Is the function of 

 the Darwinian conscience the perception of right 

 and wrong, or the recognition of the authority of 

 the right, or the remorse that follows upon vio 

 lation of that authority ? Is it any or all of 

 these ? 



To this question I find it difficult to obtain a 

 definitive answer. Darwin was a naturalist ; and 

 the natural sciences of which he was master do 



