INTRODUCTION 



him out ? ") He concludes, however, with a very- 

 interesting insistence that, in explaining moral 

 beliefs and moral sentiments as products of 

 evolution, the evolution theory is committed to 

 a teleological interpretation of its own process. 

 " For clearly when you say of a moral belief 

 or a moral sentiment that it is a product of 

 evolution, you imply that it is something which 

 the universe through untold ages has been la- 

 bouring to bring forth, and you ascribe to it a 

 value proportionate to the enormous effort that 

 it has cost to produce it." Furthermore, we 

 see, says Fiske, that the " subtle and exquisite 

 forces " of evolution " have wrought into the 

 very fibres of the universe those principles of 

 right living which it is man's highest function 

 to put into practice." Fiske closes with an in- 

 dication that this religious aspect of the Spen- 

 cerian doctrine ought to be " expounded and 

 illustrated with due thoroughness." 



It becomes thus plain that the thought of 

 the teleology of the evolutionary process is now 

 decidedly distinct in Fiske's mind. In "The 

 Unseen World " he had expressed the longing 

 for the assurance that our present lives are work- 

 ing together towards some good end. But now 

 during the time since the issuing of the " Cosmic 

 Philosophy," and apparently since the writing 

 of " The Unseen World," there had already 

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