CHAPTER X 



ALTRUISM 



The conditions under which natural selection acts 

 upon the human race are greatly modified and in 

 some respects almost reversed by the appearance of 

 a new factor. We have noticed in an earlier chapter 

 how the fundamental instinct of a "struggle for the 

 life of the species" has developed in man into altru- 

 ism and the moral sense, so that man is actuated by 

 this new instinct. It remains now to notice what influ- 

 ence this ethical sense has had upon the development 

 of civilization. The conclusion which we shall be 

 forced to reach is that modern society has been 

 founded upon the moral nature of man. The social 

 organism is ethical in its tendency and aim. 



Animal Instincts 



Among animals evolution is based primarily upon 

 two fundamental instincts, those of self-preservation 

 and reproduction. No other forces actuating ani- 

 mals are equal to these. Not even the mighty force 

 of hunger can compare with the imperative demands 

 of these two instincts. These forces are clearly 

 based upon instinct and not intelligence. With lower 

 animals, certainly, intelligence does not enter into 

 the problem, while with the higher animals instinct, 

 not intelligence, no less clearly controls the actions 

 here referred to. An animal, even though suffering 

 intensely, will contend for his life, because he is 

 impelled by the instinct of self-preservation; like- 



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