Antagonism Always Due to Error 325 



only when Peter wishes to commit an act which is 

 contrary to his true interests, and therefore solely 

 from the moment when Peter wishes to commit 

 an act which he believes is in accordance with his 

 own interests, but which is not so in reality. As 

 long as men wish to act in conformity with their 

 real interests, no antagonism can arise between 

 them from the social point of view. This fol- 

 lows from the law of nature that association aug- 

 ments the vital intensity of the units of which it is 

 composed. A real antagonism between individ- 

 uals within an association could only take place 

 in a case where the association did not increase the 

 vital intensity of the individual. 



It is well known that both Darwin and Wallace 

 have stated that they were indebted to Malthus for 

 the idea of the struggle for existence as a factor in 

 natural selection. Spencer took over much of his 

 philosophy of struggle unchanged from the Mal- 

 thusian theory also, including his opposition to 

 charity and the poor laws. The significant fact 

 in this connection is that Malthus ignored com- 

 pletely the phenomena of association and mutual 

 aid in human relations. In his chapter entitled 

 "General Deductions from the Preceding View 

 of Society," Malthus sums up his theory in the 

 statement: 



That the checks which have been mentioned are the 

 immediate causes of the slow increase of population 



