COSMIC PHILOSOPHY 



been as far as possible unrecognized — for I 

 believe that in dealing with these complex sub- 

 jects, little can be accomplished, save on the 

 plan of separately cornering the various ele- 

 ments in the problem, and flooring them one 

 by one. Any philosophy of ethics, therefore, 

 which might be founded upon the preceding 

 analysis, could be nothing more than a theory 

 of Hedonism, recognizing no other incentive 

 to proper action than the pleasing of one's self. 

 By one of the innumerable tricks which the 

 misuse of current words plays with the under- 

 standing, the so - called utilitarian theory has 

 been, and still is, not unfrequently identified 

 with this kind of hedonistic philosophy, which 

 is in truth its very antipodes. The error is much 

 like that involved in the accusation of fatalism, 

 commonly hurled at those who maintain the ob- 

 vious and harmless assertion that moral actions 

 conform to law. But the diiference, compris- 

 ing the entire difference between the noblest 

 self-sacrifice and the meanest self-fondling, is as 

 follows : In our theory of pleasure and pain, 

 which if taken as ultimate would be hedonism, 

 the well-being of the community has been as far 

 as possible omitted from the account. Wher- 

 ever I have introduced references to social phe- 

 nomena, I have considered them only in their 

 effects upon the fulness of life of the individual. 

 In dealing with the incentives to action in a 

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