CHAPTER XV 



UNITY OF LIFE 



The many facts which have been cited and studied show 

 that the primary desire for self preservation, to which the 

 will and freedom minister, is itself an impulse sufficient to 

 evolve a law of conduct with the distinct consequences, for 

 good conduct, of continued efficient life; and for defective 

 conduct a life force reduced but continuing, if deserved, 

 until the reserve or credit is exhausted. Thus appears in 

 natural morality the definition of good conduct as that which 

 continues life. And it has been seen that the life thus re- 

 ferred to is not only the limited individual life but the 

 greater unit which includes this, that is the lineal or race 

 life which is potentially limitless and undying. 



The conduct unit, in an extended sense of the words, 

 meaning more than one person included in consequences, 

 is a conception essential to an understanding. The absence 

 of a word by which this conception can be named is proof 

 that it is an unfamiliar and unusual one, and the stress 

 generally laid upon the responsibility of the individual 

 originating action, is more in accord with the customary 

 view than is this latter argument. The physical constitution 

 of this larger conduct unit as it appears in the life of nature 

 must be examined to see if its attitude in conduct is under- 

 standable. Such an examination reveals not merely a justi- 



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