CONTENTS 



CHAPTER III 

 GREAT MEN, AS THE TRUE CAUSE OF PROGRESS 



PAGE 



The ignoring of natural inequalities is a deliberate procedure. Let us 



see how it is defended ...... 55 



Let us examine Mr. Spencer's defence of it . . . . 55 



He defends it in two ways ; . . . . . -55 



(1) by saying that the great man does not really do what he seems 



to do ; . . . . . . -55 



(2) by saying that what he seems to do is not really much . . 56 

 He admits that the great man does do something exceptional in war ; . 57 

 but denies that he does anything exceptional in the sphere of peaceful 



progress . . 57 

 But how does the great man fulfil his function in war ? By ordering 



others ........ 58 



The great man, in peace, does precisely the same thing . . 59 

 Mr. Spencer, for example, orders the compositors who put his books 



into type ........ 59 



The inventor orders the men by whom his inventions are manufactured 60 



The great man of business orders his employees . . . 61 



The hotel-keeper orders his staff ..... 62 



All these men resemble the great military commander ; and if the 



latter is a social cause, so are the former .... 63 

 Next, as to the contention that the great man is the proximate cause 



only, and not the true cause ..... 63 



This, as Mr. Spencer and three popular writers of to-day show us, . 64 

 resolves itself into four arguments : . . . . .65 



(1) That every first discovery involves all that have gone before it ; 66 



(2) that the discoverer's ability itself is the product of past circum- 



stances ; . . . . . . .66 



(3) that often the same discovery is made by several men at once ; . 66 



(4) that the difference between the great and the ordinary man is 66 



slight ........ 66 



Simultaneous discovery only shows that several great men, instead of 



one, are greater than others. ..... 67 



The extent of the great man's superiority depends on how it is 



measured ..... 68 



