264 THE CONTROL OF LIFE 



pre-condition of good breed, good work, and good place 

 — eugenics, eutechnics, and eutopias ? 



Definition of Progress. — So our definition now runs : 

 — ^Progress is a balanced movement of a social whole 

 towards the fuller embodiment of the supreme values, 

 but at the same time towards a fuller realisation of 

 the physical and biological pre-conditions which secure 

 persistence. 



There is probably more than verbal value here. On 

 the one hand, insistence on the biological and physical 

 pre-conditions may help to make idealism more prac- 

 tical. Is a vote of much moment if we cannot have a 

 bath ? Is even beauty of great price if we have not 

 time to look at it. "A poor life this, if, full of care, 

 we have no time to stand and stare." The fundamental 

 is as necessary as the supreme. Little use in a fine 

 torso, if the feet are of clay. 



But a recognition of the pre-conditions of social pro- 

 gress has another aspect. It is all very well to say to 

 your horse, " Come on, then, hke a good fellow," — ^that 

 is the psychological stimulus ; but it is not very well if 

 we forget to give him his oats in the morning, — ^that is 

 the biological pre-condition. On the other hand, if we 

 treat our horse simply as a thermodynamic engine, we 

 wiU not get either the most or the best out of him ; if 

 we treat him simply as a mammal, we shall also fail, 

 though not so egregiously ; we must treat him as a 

 brother mind-body — " Brer Horse." We should beware, 

 then, of thinking that eugenics (good breeding) will 

 necessarily engender a good heart ; we should not be 



