274 Darwin's Theory of Social Progress 



Wherever we go we find the same sociable manners, 

 the same spirit of solidarity. And when we endeavour 

 to penetrate into the darkness of past ages, we find the 

 same tribal life, the same associations of men, however 

 primitive, for mutual support. Therefore Darwin was 

 quite right when he saw in man's social qualities the 

 chief factor for his further evolution, and Darwin's 

 vulgarizers are entirely wrong when they maintain 

 the contrary.^ 



The moral sense, according to Darwin's theory, 

 is the most important factor in social evolution, 

 because it is the basis of all human society. The 

 moral sense alone makes co-operative effort and 

 the division of labour possible. Mutual aid is the 

 chief factor of social progress, and indeed of all 

 human evolution, since man's dominant position 

 in the world depends almost entirely upon the 

 . fact that he is a member of society. Darwin 

 traces the cause of this dominance as follows : 



Man in the rudest state in which he now exists is 

 the most dominant animal that has ever appeared on 

 this earth. He has spread more widely than any 

 other highly organized form, and all others have 

 yielded before him. He manifestly owes this immense 



/ superiority to his intellectual faculties, to his social 

 habits, which lead him to aid and defend his fellows, 

 and to his corporeal structure. . . . The intellectual 



' powers and social habits of man are of paramount 

 importance to him. . . .^ 



' Mutual Aid a Factor of Evolution, p. 1 10. 

 • The Descent of Man, pp. 63-64. 



