6 The Philosophy of Force 



The philosophy of force claims to find its scientific 

 foundation in the application of Darwin's theory 

 of natural selection and the struggle for existence 

 to human society. 



If, then, we are to understand this instru- 

 ment, we must begin our study with the foun- 

 dations of its philosophy in the Darwinian 

 theory. 



The current view of the Darwinian theory in its 

 relation to human association is summarized by 

 one of the foremost exponents of the theory of 

 evolution as follows: 



' The theory of selection teaches that in human life, 

 as in animal and plant life, everywhere and at all 

 times, only a small and chosen minority can exist and 

 flourish, while the enormous majority starve and per- 

 ish miserably and more or less prematurely. . . . 

 The cruel and merciless struggle for existence which 

 rages throughout living nature, and in the course of 

 nature must rage, this unceasing and inexorable 

 competition of all living creatures is an incontestable 

 fact; only the picked minority of the qualified fittest 

 is in a position to resist it successfully, while the great 

 majority of the competitors must necessarily perish 

 miserably. We may profoundly lament this tragical 

 state of things, but we can neither controvert nor 

 alter it. "Many are called, but few are chosen." 

 This principle of selection is as far as possible from 

 democratic; on the contrary it is aristocratic in the 

 strictest sense of the word.^ 



* Ernst Haeckel, Freedom in Science and Teaching, p. 93. 



