260 ADAPTATION AND PROGRESS 



perish," — and repentance means turning from the " pig-trough " 

 to the " work-bench " philosophy of life; turning from the ideal of 

 " graceful consumption " and " eminent leisure " to that of 

 production, of the economizing of human energy, and of consump- 

 tion not as an end but as a means to further production. 



This social theory, like all " prophecies " will meet with theoret- 

 ical and practical opposition. It will be opposed on the latter 

 side by those who have been taught by experience that sole 

 emphasis on one phase of lif e is narrowing and deadening and who 

 do not believe that a race can be evolved which can combine this 

 excessive emphasis on the production of material goods and on 

 reproduction, with emphasis on cultural values to the degree 

 assumed by our author, and to the degree required to make his 

 theory effective. It will be opposed on this side, too, by those 

 who live to consume. 



On the theoretical side it is open to criticism along the following 

 lines: — 



(i) It is logical and abstract and of value as a social philosophy 

 in proportion as its premises are true, but even so, it is concerned 

 too largely with " by-and-large " and " in-the-long-run " without 

 sufficient regard to individual, concrete conditions. 



(2) It is built up on a rigid application to social progress of the 

 neo-Darwinian formula for biological evolution and fails to be 

 convincing just in proportion (a) as this formula fails to explain 

 biological evolution, and (6) in proportion as this formula needs 

 to be modified or is shown to be inapplicable to social evolution. 



(3) Over-emphasis is placed on the sovereign, territorial group 

 as the sociological unit. There seems good reason for holding, 

 on the contrary, that the sovereign group is not an end in itself, 

 but only a means to the well-being of the largest possible number 

 of individuals and it is by no means certain that this result can be 

 attained only by the conflict between territorial groups. 



(4) In his desire to give prominence to the objective standard 

 of the good, the right and the just, Professor Carver has denied all 

 worth to motive as such; but a man's attitude toward life his 

 ideal, his intelligent purpose are most potent factors in enabling 

 him to find that place and do that task which shall prove most 



