viii PEE FACE. 



Btructive matter begins with the eigliteenth chapter of Part 

 II., which (together with its predecessor) was written in 

 1866, and which leads to conclusions concerning the relations 

 of a social community to its environment, such as will 

 doubtless be much more thoroughly and satisfactorily pre- 

 sented by Mr. Spencer in his forthcoming work on Sociology. 

 The following chapters on the Genesis of Man, along with 

 considerable expository and critical matter, contain a theory 

 as to the part taken by the prolongation of human infancy 

 in originating social evolution, which is entirely new in 

 all its features. With the exception of numerous minor 

 suggestions scattered here and there throughout the work, 

 these are the only parts of the constructive matter which I 

 can claim as my own; though it may be interesting to 

 observe that the chapter on the Evolution of Mind was 

 mostly written, and the theory contained therein entirely 

 worked out, before the publication of Part V. of the second 

 edition of Mr. Spencer's " Principles of Psychology." 



The new critical matter is mostly to be found in the 

 chapters relating to religion, and in the discussion of the 

 various points of antagonism between the philosophy here 

 expounded and the Positive Philosophy. Though the real 

 work of demolishing the undue pretensions of Positivism 

 had already been well accomplished by Mr. Spencer, most 

 of whose arguments are here reproduced, it seemed to me 

 that much might still be done toward clearing up the dire 

 confusion with which in the popular mind this subject 

 is surrounded ; and this I realized the more keenly as it 

 was some time before I had succeeded in getting clear of the 

 confusion myself. Accordingly on every proper occasion 

 the opinions characteristic of the Positive Philosophy are 

 cited and criticized; and on every occasion they are proved 

 to be utterly irreconcilable with the opinions characteristic 

 of Mr. Spencer's philosophy and adopted in this work. The 



