12 DARWINISM AND POLITICS. 



It is thus of the extremest practical import- 

 ance to see what i s_ the real bearing of Evo lu- 

 tion on social problem s. We must examine 

 the relation between biological laws and social 

 fa iths and hopes, if we would make our opinions 

 self - consistent ; and self - consistency is the 

 negative test of truth. Such an examination is 

 especially incumbent on those who profess to 

 keep their minds open to all that science can 

 teach, and at the same time to have at heart 

 the cause of social reformation. We ouidit to 

 have a reason for the faith that is in us. To 

 test our scattered opinions and beliefs by bring- 

 ing them together is the main function of a 

 sound philosophy. 



3. "SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST." 



The phrase "survival of the fittest" is very 

 apt to mislead, for it suggests the fittest or best 

 in every sense or in the highest sense, whereas, 

 it only means, as Prof. Huxley has pointed out,, 

 those " best fitted to cope wit h their GJ rcum- 



stances'' 1 in ordej: to suc yive and tran smit 



- 



1 Art. on " The Struggle for Existence," in Nineteenth 

 Century {ox Feb., 1888, p. 165. 



