1 34 ARISTOCRA C Y AND E VOL UTION 



Book ii some new state of the practical rather than of the 

 speculative faculties ; but apart from this not very 

 important inaccuracy of expression, Mill's way of 

 putting the case is admirable for its lucidity and for 

 its truth ; and we may, for our present purpose, be 

 content to take it as it stands. All civilisation 

 depends on the accumulation of speculative know- 

 ledge, and all progress in civilisation depends on 

 an increase in speculative knowledge. 



Bm an pro- Speculative knowledge, however, does not in- 

 gress in know- r i / T -1-1 i 



ledge is the crease ot itself. It is not acquired without consider- 

 able effort ; and people acquire it only because they 

 strongly desire to do so. Such being the case, let 

 us turn to another passage, taken likewise from the 

 writings of Mill, and occurring in the very same 

 chapter as that which has just been quoted. "It 

 would be a great error" says Mill, "and one very 

 little likely to be committed, to assert that speculation, 

 intellectual activity, the pursuit of truth, is amongst 

 the more powerful propensities of human nature, or 

 holds a predominating place in the lives of any save 

 decidedly exceptional individuals. But notwithstand- 

 ing the relative weakness of this principle among 

 other sociological agents, its influence is the main 

 determining cause of social progress, all the other 

 dispositions of our nature which contribute to that 

 progress being dependent on it for accomplishing 

 their share of the work." 



Now what does this passage mean ? About its 

 meaning, and the truth of its meaning, there can be 

 no possible doubt ; but it will be well to observe 



