Sympathy a Survival Factor 331 



which might be derived from mutual aid, so that 

 the loss to society is much greater than any pos- 

 sible gain through the killing off of a number of 

 the physically weak. Darwin emphasizes the im- 

 portance of these charitable actions, which tend 

 to take the form in modern legislation of old age 

 pensions, mothers' pensions, sickness and accident 

 insurance, and other social measures, as follows : 



The aid which we feel impelled to give to the help- 

 less is mainly an incidental result of the instinct of 

 sympathy, which was originally acquired as part of 

 the social instincts, but subsequently rendered, in the 

 manner previously indicated, more tender and more 

 widely diffused. Nor could we check our sympathy, 

 even at the urging of hard reason, without deteriora- 

 tion in the noblest part of our nature. The surgeon 

 may harden himself while performing an operation, 

 for he knows that he is acting for the good of his pa- 

 tient, but if we were intentionally to neglect the weak 

 and helpless, it could only be for a contingent benefit, 

 with an overwhelming present evil.^ 



The same failure to understand the significance 

 of the change from the individual to the group as 

 the survival unit, and the resulting paramount 

 importance of mutual aid as the dominant factor 

 of social progress, constitutes the fundamental 

 error in the writings of Nietzsche. He recog- 

 nizes that Darwin has discarded struggle as the 

 chief factor of his social theory, and failing to 



* The Descent of Man, p. 150. 



