CHAP, xix HYPER-DARWINISM IN SOCIOLOGY 275 



inherit little "at birth." What of that? Human 

 progress cannot conceivably be regulated by "the 

 accumulation of congenital variations above the aver- 

 age " and by nothing else. That would imply that 

 the world could gain nothing from an intelligent 

 sociologist unless he happened to leave a son who 

 was slightly more effective, socially, than himself. 

 The truth is that genius is rarely or never reproduced 

 in offspring, while yet progress is secured by the 

 human, the rational methods. " The sons " of the 

 wise, as Old Testament language reminds us, are 

 other than his family after the flesh. Even in dying, 

 " he shall see his seed." Shakespeare is Shake- 

 speare, not to one generation merely, but to every 

 age. Newton survives in the senior wranglers of to- 

 day, who could expose so many of his errors, and tell 

 him so many things he never dreamed of. If Mr. 

 Kidd's views are solid, he has contributed directly to 

 human evolution by his very stimulating book; a 

 contribution quite independent of " accumulation of 

 congenital variations"; while if Mr. Kidd is wrong, 

 one may hope to make some small but direct ' contri- 

 bution to human welfare by exposing his fallacies. 

 Really it is almost ludicrous to spend so much time 

 in beating in an open door ! Yet the conclusion 

 pointed to is one of great scope and importance, if 

 we consider it thoughtfully. Far from being a mere 

 accidental accretion upon the evolutionary process, 

 reason has transformed everything. Reason is not 

 formal but constitutive. Reason is not simply a cal- 

 culating machine, but a principle, whose workings 

 are seen both in nature and in man, both in know- 

 ledge and in conduct. It is not selfish but moral 



