COSMIC PHILOSOPHY 



animals, and will, indeed, be more highly ap- 

 proved the more he does so, on the other hand 

 there is a curb upon his exercise of them within 

 the limits of the clan. There is a nascent pub- 

 lic opinion which lauds actions beneficial to the 

 clan, and frowns upon actions detrimental to 

 it; though for this it is not necessary that there 

 should be a generalization of the effects of cer- 

 tain actions, any more than a generalization of 

 the effects of hunger is needed to ensure the in- 

 dividual's approval of eating. The mere present 

 sense of collective pleasure or pain is enough to 

 organize the complex feeling. For example, when 

 a marauding expedition upon a neighbouring clan 

 is defeated by the cowardice or treachery of one 

 of the party, the offender is perhaps beaten, 

 kicked, or killed. The present sense of collec- 

 tive pain immediately prompts the actions which 

 tend to repress the cowardice or treachery. On 

 the other hand, the pleasurable states which re- 

 sult in all the members of the clan, in common, 

 after an exhibition of successful bravery, imme- 

 diately generate approval of the man who is 

 brave, along with the desire to imitate him. In 

 short, — to quote Mr. Spencer, — one of the 

 things that come to be strongly associated in the 

 mind of the young savage, with marks of ap- 

 proval, " which are symbolical of pleasures in 

 general, is courage ; and one of the things that 

 comes to be associated in his mind with frowns 



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