CHAP, xiii DARWINISM IN ETHICS: ALEXANDER 143 



Seek the higher and the lower will be added. Seek 

 the lower you lose all. We conclude therefore 

 that Mr. Alexander's theory is neither true nor false 

 but merely vague. 



The second half of the treatise deals with moral 

 progress. The most interesting and novel part of 

 this discussion is found in a doctrine laid down when 

 treating of the origin of moral distinctions ; but, as 

 there seems to be no reason why the doctrine should 

 only be applied to the beginnings of moral progress, 

 we shall treat it as covering the whole field. It sets 

 before us a vision of competing moral ideals, and of 

 the survival of the fittest. The process is illimitable ; 

 there is no absolutely best ; every good, while it is 

 valid, or to those for whom it is valid, is also the 

 best ; and as continuous evolution and adjustment go 

 on, the moral ideal must vary or be renewed in cor- 

 respondence with the facts of human progress. This 

 assertion is treated as showing us the prolongation of 

 the Darwinian struggle into new and higher regions. 

 If men do not habitually struggle against each other, 

 to the point of extinction for the vanquished and 

 solitary survival for the victor, ideals do so ; and the 

 " creed outworn " succumbs, while the ideal which is 

 up to date survives and predominates for a season. 

 So it always has been, so it always will be. 



Such constructions of ideas seem very much akin 

 to primitive mythology. Here too we have a meta- 

 phor, and here too the speaker does not know or 

 does not remember that it is a metaphor, but treats 

 it as a revelation of absolute scientific truth. The 

 author uses most of the implications and inferences 

 connected with Darwin's analysis, and uses them 



