520 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XLI. No. 1058 



of proper moral ideals. Struggle for ex- 

 istence, uncontrolled physical strength and 

 dexterity, love of fight, hate, rage, bravery, 

 etc., are traits which the human race has 

 in common with wild beasts, and an uncon- 

 trolled cultivation of these traits may often 

 prove disastrous to all human morality. 

 On the other hand, intelligence and intel- 

 lectual activities are traits which distin- 

 guish man from beast. Their intense cul- 

 tivation by civilized men has been the main 

 cause of the high state of morality which 

 prevails and is visibly progressing within 

 the confines of civilized countries — the in- 

 iranational ethics. 



But now let us turn again to interna- 

 tional ethics. We have seen that there is 

 an abyss between international and intra- 

 national morality. "We have seen further 

 that war between civilized countries brings 

 in modern times incomparably more 

 frightful results than in previous ages, 

 which is undoubtedly due to the astounding 

 discoveries and inventions brought to 

 light by the intense intellectual activities 

 in the various cultured countries. Are dis- 

 coveries and inventions, are even appar- 

 ently sound intellectual activities, danger- 

 ous to international morality? Is this 

 morality rather regressive instead of be- 

 ing progressive? And what can we do to 

 make it progressive or to accelerate the 

 imperceptible progress? The last ques- 

 tion is the more important one, since it 

 presents a practical and not merely an 

 academic problem. In the following I in- 

 tend to discuss some factors which may 

 contribute in some modest way to its solu- 

 tion. I am fully aware, as all of you are, 

 of the immensity of the problem, and I am 

 aware, more than you, of the microscopical 

 dimensions, metaphorically speaking, of 

 your guest of the evening. But I shall 

 act now as I always acted, upon the 

 principle that it is neither good nor wise 



to possess less courage or more modesty 

 than that drop of water which innocently 

 and cheerfully undertakes to drill a hole 

 in a rock. 



As one who swore allegiance to the med- 

 ical tribe, I shall begin by saying that the 

 case of international morals is very bad 

 indeed, but it is by no means hopeless; 

 that only hopeful men are capable of at- 

 taining desirable results; that a remedy 

 which promises to bring some help, be it 

 ever so small, is not to be despised, and 

 that a sum of such remedies may save even 

 a bad case. 



It seems to me quite probable that inter- 

 racial and international morals are also 

 subject to evolutionary influences and 

 are undergoing a developmental process; 

 but the progress is extremely slow because 

 it has to struggle too much against the 

 beastly nature of man. Even the develop- 

 ment of international morality is a slow 

 process; it must have taken many thou- 

 sands of years before it reached its pres- 

 ent stage. The present condition of inter- 

 national ethics would perhaps appear to 

 us even quite high, if we had the means to 

 compare it with its status of hundreds of 

 thousands of years ago. This recognition, 

 namely, that interracial and international 

 morals are undergoing a progressive de- 

 velopment, but that their progress is nec- 

 essarily very slow, seems to me to be a very 

 useful one. In the first place, because it 

 encourages us to try to accelerate thSs 

 progress, be the rate of the possible in- 

 crease in the acceleration ever so small and 

 be the means at our disposal for accom- 

 plishing it ever so meager. In the second 

 place, it suggests to us to avoid looking for 

 means of acceleration which are far out of 

 proportion with the rate of the evolution- 

 ary progress; it is bound to fail and even 

 to bring a temporary reaction, as history 

 taught us over and over again. 



