94 



SCIENCE. 



[Vol. XII. No. 290 



and it may be improper. The term does not imply either propriety 

 or impropriety. Let the word ' self-interest ' stand for justifiable 

 egoism, and the word ' selfishness ' represent unjustifiable egoism. 



Egoism, then, was once a necessity ; and while it was a condition 

 to existence, it was justifiable, whatever its effects on others might 

 have been. When things changed so as not to render egoism a 

 necessity, man was still as prone to practise it as before. He was 

 acting under the acquired impulses of ages. It was an extremely 

 difficult thing for him to repress his egoism ; it was perhaps even 

 more difficult for him to understand that he ought to do so. And 

 yet the change of circumstances had produced a change in its 

 moral quality. P'rom the practice of self-interest he had passed to 

 the practice of selfishness ; and he had so passed unconsciously, 

 for the change was in environinent, and not in him. The same act 

 that had been a virtue was now a vice. Of course, centuries were 

 needed for this idea to develop and to be disseminated, but at 

 length it caine. Although the terms were not in use, the differen- 

 tiation had taken place. The terms came when needed to express 

 existing ideas. 



Long after egoism had differentiated into self-interest and sel- 

 fishness, came the idea of doing something for others. Man's pow- 

 ers were then so limited that this was not much. Even when he 

 became capable, he was slow to discover it, and slower to act upon 

 it. Heredity bound him. To loosen him was the mission of re- 

 ligion. Whatever its votaries may claim as to its history and pur- 

 pose, the one great and overwhelming power that religion has had 

 upon the world is this, — it has developed doing for others ; it has 

 turned man's attention away from himself to those not himself. A 

 most excellent term to use for this is ' altruism,' — a term first em- 

 ployed only about fifty years ago by Auguste Comte to signify 

 devotion to others or to humanity. Percy Smith, in his ' Glossary of 

 Terms and Phrases,' defines it as " the doing to another as one 

 would be done by ; opposed to egoism." 



Such terms as 'benevolence' and 'charity' have been generally 

 used to cover the idea of altruism ; but in the mind of every one 

 ' benevolence ' and ' charity ' involve the moral quality of goodness. 

 It is of the greatest importance to have a word like ' altruism,' 

 which does not imply any moral quality, and which covers all 

 we do for others regardless of the consequences, just as ' ego- 

 ism ' covers all we do for self regardless of consequences or of 

 moral quality. 



That -mankind has thus far regarded all altruism as good, is 

 undeniably shown by the fact that neither English nor any other 

 language has words to distinguish proper from improper altruism. 

 This distinction has not been well developed. It was early seen 

 that the motives were of importance. If we do something for 

 others, it should be with a good motive. The act was declared to 

 be of no subjective value unless the motive was lofty : thus, " Do 

 not your alms before men to be seen of them, otherwise you have 

 no reward of your Father which is in heaven." Calling attention 

 thus to motives was doubtless a great advance upon the preceding 

 times. This improved form of altruism was, however, indiscrim- 

 inate. Nothing was said nor implied, in the above precept, as to 

 the character of the persons to whom alms were to be given. 

 Nothing was hinted nor thought of the ultimate effect upon the 

 recipient of giving alins, much less of taking steps to prevent any 

 needing alms. 



For eighteen hundred years the world has had an altruism which 

 failed to discriminate as to the object, and altruism has often been 

 carried to injurious excess, and yet we have had about as good 

 general results as could be expected under the circumstances. The 

 early step from justifiable egoism to that which discriminated was a 

 long one. From the mind resting on self to considering the im- 

 mediate wants of others was a great advance. From altruism 

 performed with selfish motives to disinterested benevolence was 

 another grand advance. The order of human progress doubtless 

 required a long discipline in indiscriminate altruism before men 

 should learn to differentiate it by observing its results. 



And yet, however grandly its maxims may ring in our ears, what- 

 ever praises we may bestow upon its advocates, and whatever sat- 

 isfaction we may express with the past, the day for indiscrim- 

 inate altruism has gone by, and we are confronted with present 

 duty. To-day the only man who sells all that he has and gives to 



the poor is the unfortunate one whom we shut up in the insane- 

 asylum. To-day the only one who takes no thought for the mor- 

 row is the tramp or the beggar (the professional beggar has even 

 sense enough to keep a bank account). Those extremes of altru- 

 ism, non-resistance and self-abnegation, have been discarded. And 

 why .' Let us now recognize the virtue in them, and understand 

 also just why they are impracticable. 



The virtue of those precepts lies in their power to draw men 

 away from self. 



He who sells all he has and gives to the poor, may, if he is very 

 badly eaten up with greed for money, discipline himself in the right 

 direction ; but in selling all. he has deprived himself of the means 

 of self-support in sickness, and endangered the care of his family. 

 But all this of subjective wrong might be perpetrated to curb a 

 grasping spirit through the loss of property. That, however, which 

 he had no right to do, he has done. He has pauperized the poor. 

 The evil inflicted upon scores, and perhaps hundreds, is in their 

 lessening of self-respect, the cultivation of indolence, the enfeebling 

 of their already weak determinations, the putting farther away of 

 that day when the poor shall be properly paid for their work, and 

 the fostering of that reckless spirit, " The world owes me a living, 

 and I am going to have it." If the next rich man does not sell out 

 and distribute soon enough, they will thirst for his riches, perhaps 

 for his blood. 



Every single precept pointing to non-resistance and self-abnega- 

 tion, while subjectively attractive, ignores the objective and ulti- 

 mate effect ; that is, they all seem to be of benefit to the doer, but 

 make not an iota of discrimination as to the effect upon others,_ 

 while in fact, as history has shown, and as we are now beginning 

 to know, both are injured, but the greatest harm is done to the 

 supposed beneficiaries. 



But to consider theeconomic effects of altruism by means of which 

 we are to distinguish justifiable altruism from unjustifiable altruism. 

 Now that we have reached the study of social, political, and eco- 

 noinic science, we are called upon to analyze the subject, to define 

 our terms carefully, to be sure that we build our sciences on facts, 

 and to state our conclusions clearly. And our conclusions are 

 most hopeful. They are, that in doing real and not seeming good to 

 ourselves we also benefit the race, that in doing good to others it is 

 not necessary nor wise that we inflict sore deprivation or indignity 

 upon ourselves, that thrift and wisdom consist in taking a reason- 

 able thought for the morrow, and that in nothing so much should 

 we take anxious thought for the morrow as when appealed to for 

 alms or to assist the needy. 



Better that they suffer hunger to-day and be made self-respect- 

 ing and self-supporting to-morrow, than that they be fed to-day 

 and then be forgotten to-morrow. We best help others by secur- 

 ing them full justice, and by refraining from injuring them either 

 through malice or through giving them that for which they return 

 no equivalent. 



[Of the different forms in which altruism has been exercised in 

 the past, Mr. Smiley has little to say in praise. As to the relief of 

 the poor, he quotes the results of Mr. Low's investigations in Brook- 

 lyn, and of similar investigations in Cleveland and Cincinnati, where 

 it has been found, that, with the cessation of out-door relief, the 

 need of such relief has nearly vanished. He maintains that it- 

 should always be regretted when circuinstances seem to demand 

 attention to immediate needs, and that, if a friendly visitor is per- 

 mitted to give alms, his and the minds of the receivers are diverted 

 from the great object, — the permanent cure of poverty. Orphan- 

 asylums and foundling-asylums he also severely condemns, holding 

 that every foundling-asylum in America should be instantly disor- 

 ganized ; and in speaking of insane-asylums he considers it surpris- 

 ing, that, while rapid progress is being made in treating many 

 forms of disease, so little knowledge is being obtained concerning, 

 the nature, causes, and cure of insanity, and insists that doing good 

 to those now insane may not be of half the importance that it is to- 

 find means of preventing insanity in the future. Under the heads- 

 of ' Benevolence in Higher Education ' and ' Gifts to Workingmen,' 

 he refers to the free education of certain classes of students, which 

 practice he believes to be dying out, and to the fashion which. 

 wealthy people have of establishing chapels and libraries for the 

 use of the working-classes. He believes that the working-men 



