Heredity and Conduct 95 



APPENDIX III 



THE BEARING OF OUR PRESENT KNOWLEDGE 

 OF HEREDITY UPON CONDUCT 



An Abstract of a Lecture delivered in 

 May, 1 904 



IN any general discussion on matters of con- 

 duct our first questions must be, What do we 

 understand by ' morality ' ? and Why do we 

 act * morally ' ? 



At the basis of our nature there are two 

 general principles : 



1. The instinct of self. 



2. The instinct of the ' herd/ 



In certain types of life the gregarious ten- 

 dency is small ; in man it is, perhaps, more 

 dominant than any other instinct. The 

 individual struggle is subordinated to the 

 struggle between group and group, and the 

 whole progress of mankind is largely due to 

 the survival of those groups which are the 

 most completely 'socialized.' 



Now while nobody denies the instinct of 

 self-preservation, some may deny the instinct 

 of the Jierd, yet as a slight proof of its 

 innate existence we admit that the bulk of 

 us feel shame at national disaster and a thrill 



