CHAPTER IV 



THE EVOLUTION OF THE MOEAL SENSE 



The Nature of the Moral Sense 



We have not yet reached the center of the question, 

 for we have thus far traced only the development of 

 codes of morals and have not touched the question 

 of the moral sense itself. Conscience does not exist 

 among animals, but with man it frequently proves to 

 be the mightiest force that controls his actions. Is 

 this moral sense also a matter of social inheritance 

 or is it a part of his organic nature, and derived 

 by germinal heredity 1 



From the origin of moral codes as outlined in the 

 previous chapter, it would follow that right should 

 always be that which is customary. The right would 

 necessarily be the average opinion of the race, and 

 wrong would be anything contrary to the average 

 opinion. But all systems of ethics that base the moral 

 sense upon custom are unsatisfactory failures. We 

 clearly recognize a difference between the right and 

 the average opinion. The martyr finds the right to be 

 something very different from average opinion. The 

 principles outlined in the preceding chapter could 

 never have produced martyrs. We certainly recog- 

 nize a difference between the right and that which 

 appears expedient, or between the right and that 

 which would meet the approbation of our compan- 

 ions; and we recognize in conscience something 

 which demands obedience, even though it means 

 sacrifice of life. Natural selection may have pre- 



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