CHAPTER V 



THE DOCTRINE OF ALTRUISM 



A fragment of ethics On a psychological basis Opposes psychologi- 

 cal hedonism Healthily, but incompetently Fitzjames Ste- 

 phen's objection to it ; we cannot alter nature's forces! That is 

 good determinism but bad morals Ethically, is a new conception 

 of virtue Scientifically worthless [Mr. Baldwin] " Balance " is 

 preferred to altruism by Butler at times By Spencer Criticism 



A THIRD practical or moral authority is found by 

 Comte in the doctrine of Altruism. Vivre pour 

 autrui is to be our constant inspiration and our shin- 

 ing goal. This is really a fragment of that ethical 

 portion of his system which Comte did not live to 

 work out. The definition of Altruism is never 

 formulated ; it is never supported in argument ; it is 

 merely taken for granted. None the less it exerts an 

 immense influence in Comte's own system, and has 

 spread from it far and wide. Innumerable writers, 

 Christian as well as non-Christian, have come to em- 

 ploy the term " Altruism " as a synonym for good- 

 ness. Such assumptions demand our scrutiny. 



The doctrine has at least two aspects, a psychologi- 

 cal and an ethical. Psychologically, it is assumed 

 that human motives fall into two classes ; one class 

 terminating on the self, and seeking one's own pri- 

 vate good ; the second class terminating upon others, 

 E 49 



