GENETICS AND ETHICS 469 



pected of them. There are in different men 

 all degrees of responsibility, as there are all 

 degrees of capacity. In one and the same in- 

 dividual responsibility varies at different times 

 and under different circumstances ; it rises and 

 falls, like the tides, in every life. Varying ca- 

 pacity to respond to rational, social and ethical 

 stimuli and to inhibit responses of an opposite 

 nature depends not merely upon inheritance 

 but also upon training, habits, physiological 

 states. The common opinion that all normal 

 men are equally responsible is not correct; in 

 the eyes of the law this may be true, because 

 legal obligations are so far below the capacities 

 of normal men that all may be held equally re- 

 sponsible before the law, though in reality 

 their responsibilities are as varied as their in- 

 heritance or their training. 



Conversely the responsibility of society to 

 the individual is universally recognized. Ir- 

 responsible persons must be cared for by older 

 or wiser persons who become responsible for 

 them; and in general the responsibility rests 

 upon society to provide as favorable environ- 

 ment as possible for all its members. Ex- 



