Social Theories of Wallace and Huxley 271 



theory of social progress, Instead of being an 

 integral part of the theory of evolution, marks 

 a distinct development. Both attempt in some 

 manner to bridge the gap between the "ethical" 

 man and the "natural" man, and the attempt of 

 both is unsatisfactory. In order to find some 

 method by which the "natural" man may evolve 

 his "unnatural" world of ethics, Dr. Wallace 

 seems to feel the need of some deus ex machina and, 

 abandoning his scientific basis of evolution, is 

 driven to suppose some "influx" from "the un- 

 seen universe of spirits" to solve the difficulty. 

 Huxley attempts to solve the problem in a simpler 

 way. The self-restraint of the moral world arises 

 from factors which are organic in the natural man. 

 The difficulty of this solution is that it contradicts 

 the clear-cut antithesis between the natural man 

 and social man which is so vividly emphasized in 

 Huxley's writings, and this constitutes the weak- 

 ness of Huxley's whole position. 



The superiority of Darwin's genius is shown in 

 the fact that he does not abandon his scientific 

 basis like Wallace, nor does he fall into the error of 

 self-contradiction like Huxley. Darwin's theory 

 of social progress is an integral part of his theory 

 of evolution. There is no discontinuity in the 

 universal sweep of his great cosmic principle from 

 its lowly beginnings in the realm of nature to its 

 highest development in the moral law, to which 

 he traces the progress of human society towards 

 perfection. 



