232 LIGHT SCIENCE FOR LEISURE HOURS. 



CONDUCT AXD DUTY. 1 



IN all ages of which any record has reached us, men of 

 advanced mind (in their own age) have analysed the 

 principles which regulate conduct, and have discussed 

 those which should do so. In our own time the 

 analysis of ethical considerations has been more fully 

 developed than in any preceding age partly, perhaps, 

 because a wider experience is open to us, but chiefly 

 because the progress of the doctrine of evolution has 

 thrown new light on the subject. Xo one who has 

 thoughtfully studied the doctrine of biological evolu- 

 tion can fail to see how important is its bearing on 

 the principles which determine duty and should rule 

 conduct. If the investigation of the laws of evolution 

 in their merely scientific aspect has not shown this, 

 the study of sociological works, such as those of Herbert 

 Spencer, must have forced even those who do not 

 accept the general doctrine of evolution to perceive 

 that, among those who do, the doctrine cannot but 

 have a most important ethical influence. For this 

 reason, then, chiefly, the subject of the book before us 

 largely occupies men's thoughts in our time. 



Mr. Leslie Stephen has long been known as among 

 the foremost and ablest of those who have dealt with 

 the science of ethics during the last quarter of a 

 century. His views on points of detail have been 



1 The Science of Ethics, by Leslie Stephen. London : Smith, Elder, 

 &Co. 



