Biology's Contribution to a Theory of Morals 106 



the supernatural is breaking down. Further progress 

 in our type of civilization is dependent upon the adop- 

 tion of a well-rounded system of natural morality. 

 Splendid progress in this direction has already been 

 made, and so far as the domain of moral doctrine itself 

 is concerned there would seem to be no great obstacle 

 in the way of continuing on the same road. But the 

 moment advance in natural morals comes squarely face 

 to face with the problem of faith in the supernatural 

 groundwork of morals, it touches the exceedingly sensi- 

 tive spot of man's religious faith in the supernatural; 

 and right here trouble begins. 



A point which I wish to insist upon though to pre- 

 sent it in detail is quite beyond the possibilities of an 

 essay like this is that a conception of nature worked 

 out fully and freely in the synthetic as well as in the 

 analytic way ; that is, in conformity with the universal 

 integratedness of nature, as well as in conformity with 

 nature's differentiatedness, would satisfy those basal 

 instincts of man upon which religion rests no less cer- 

 tainly and fully than it would furnish an adequate 

 basis for morality. The greatest defect in natural 

 science is, I am quite sure, its failure clearly to recog- 

 nize that its conception of nature must be comprehen- 

 sive enough to include man in the fulness of his being. 

 During the last half-century the achievements of sci- 

 ence in making out what man's place in nature is, are 

 of incalculable importance. The next great task for 

 science is to show what nature is because man is a part 



