134 ADAPTATION AND PROGRESS 



tribe, city (as in Greece) or village (as in India). More recently 

 it has expanded to include the state or nation.^ 



The fundamental characteristics which differentiate races, he 

 holds, are few in number and practically unchangeable. The 

 accessory characteristics, however, due to environment, circum- 

 stances or education are changed with comparative ease.^ 



Races are classified as primitive, inferior, average and su- 

 perior, the chief criterion of superiority being " aptitude for 

 dominating their reflex impulses." ^ From primitive to superior 

 civilization there is progressive differentiation of individuals, 

 sexes and races, though among superior races there are " no 

 inherent differences in men of one race." The only difference is 

 that " circumstances have called out latent possibiHties," as in the 

 case of Robespierre, Fouquer-Tinville and Saint Just.* 



" Character," says Le Bon, "is formed by the combination in 

 varying proportions, of the different elements which psycholo- 

 gists are accustomed at the present day to designate by the name 

 of sentiments . . . [such as] perseverance, energy, power of self- 

 control, faculties more or less dependent on the will and moral- 

 ity." ^ " The intellectual qualities," he holds, " are susceptible 

 of being slightly modified by education, those of character almost 

 wholly escape its influence," — and this latter result comes only 

 in the case of neutral natures, i. e., those " whose will is almost 

 non-existent." ^ " The character of a people and not its intel- 

 ligence determines its historical evolution and governs its des- 

 tiny." ^ Because of the different characters of peoples taken as a 

 whole, arise misunderstandings and wars, subjugation and social 

 stratification resulting in division of labor. Owing to this 

 stratification and the exploitation of the masses, a people comes 

 to have a form like a pyramid with the elite at the apex, " an 

 exceedingly restricted group as compared with the rest of the 

 population, but the only group that determines the rank of a 

 country in the intellectual scale of civilization." ^ 



^ Psychology of Peoples, p. 14. ^ Ibid., p. 31. Cf. Comte's use of tenn "heart." 



2 Ibid., p. 19. ^ Ibid., p. 32. 



» Ibid., p. 30. ' Ibid., p. 34. 



* Ibid., p. 20. * Ibid., pp. 35-42, 199 f. 



