202 THE GENESIS OF SPECIES. [Cn^. 



CHAPTER IX. 



EVOLUTION AND ETHICS. 



The Origin of Morals an Inquiry not forcii^n to the Subject of this Book.— Modern 

 Utilitarian View as to tliat Origin. — Mr. Darwin's Speculation as to the Origin 

 of the AbhoiTonce of Incest. — Cause assigned by liini insutlicient. — Care of the 

 Aged and Infum opposed by " Natural Selection ; " also Self-abnegation and 

 Asceticism. — Distinctness of the Ideas " lUght" and "Useful." — Mr. John Stuart 

 ilill. — Insulliciency of "Natural Selection" to account for the Origin of tho 

 Distinction between Duty and Proflt. — Distinction of Moral AcUj Into " Mate- 

 rial" and " Formal." — No Ground for believing that Formal Morality exists in 

 Brutes. — Evidence that it does exist in Savages. — Facility with which Savages 

 may be misunderstood. — Objections as to Diversity of Customs. — Mr. Ilutton's 

 licview of Mr. Herbert Spencer. — Anticipatory Character of Morals. — Sir John 

 Lubbock's E.tplanation. — Summary and Conclusion. 



Any inquiry into tlie orif^-in of the notion of " morality " 

 — tho conception of " right " — niiiy, peihai)s, be consiilered 

 as somewhat remote from the question of the Genesis of 

 Species; tlie more so, since Mr. Darwin, at one time, dis- 

 chiimed any pretension to exphiin the origin of the higher 

 psychical phenomena of man. His disciples, however, were 

 never equally reticent, and indeed he himself is now not 

 only about to produce a work on man (in which this question 

 must be considered), but he has distinctly announced the 

 extension of the application of his theory to the very j)he- 

 nomena in question. He sa3's : * " In the distant future I 

 see open fields for far more important researches. Psy- 

 cliology will be based on a new foundation, that of the 

 necessary acquirement of each mental power and capacity 

 by gradation. Light will be thrown on the orig-in of man 



' "Origiu of Species," 6th edit., 18G9, p. 577. 



