ALTRUISM 249 



imperative and admits no argument, although it may 

 not be obeyed. Moreover, we find that this new 

 impulse controlling man is founded neither upon 

 the law of self-preservation nor the instinct of 

 reproduction. In the martyr it certainly runs con- 

 trary to the instinct of self-preservation, and it 

 very commonly runs diametrically opposite to the 

 reproductive instinct. Though this new impulse may 

 originally have been derived from the instinct to 

 produce and rear offspring, to-day it has become 

 something quite unique in man, something radically 

 distinct from the other two fundamental instincts 

 which have controlled the development of the lower 

 races of animals. Mankind has, then, developed his 

 civilization under the influence of a new instinct, 

 an impulse of which only the barest rudiments, at 

 most, can be found among animals. 



The Ethical Instinct Not Based on Reason. — We fre- 

 quently hear it stated that there is a force in man- 

 kind that leads to righteousness. It is clear that this 

 force is not primarily one of reason. The ethical 

 nature is based upon altruism and consists funda- 

 mentally in a willingness to yield self-interest. But 

 nothing is clearer than that the impulse leading to 

 the sacrifice of self is not based upon reason. From 

 the standpoint of the individual, sacrifice is the very 

 height of unreason. So very evident is this that from 

 the beginning, both in practical religious doctrines 

 and in the philosophical discussion of ethics, it has 

 ever been necessary to hold out to man the promise 

 of greater good in the future as a reward for present 

 sacrifice. When we appeal to reason there is noth- 

 ing which will justify us in asking a man to yield his 

 own interest to another, unless we offer recompense 



