302 ADAPTATION AND PROGRESS 



making a strong appeal to the individual who desires social esteem 

 and dreads the shame of social disapproval. 1 Types complete in 

 every feature, however, are provided only for the chief positions 

 in lif e. For the rest, society by dissecting and comparing normal 

 conduct for all sorts of exigencies brings to light certain resem- 

 blances; but each individual has to work out for himself his own 

 personal ideal. 



The generalized types formulated by society by a process of 

 passive adjustment furnish the background for conventional 

 ethics; the personal acceptance of and reaction on these general- 

 ized types furnish the highest form of reflective ethics. 2 " The 

 greatest effect of an ideal," says Ross, " is not attained when it is 

 pitched very far above natural inclination," — otherwise it will 

 attract such a slender portion of the whole area of variation that 

 it will benefit very few people; yet on the other hand too low a 

 standard may do no good by not being far enough above the 

 average to raise it. 3 



Idealization, according to our author, is a powerful means of 

 control and at present has more promise than any of its rivals, — 

 though not a final form. " Social order will have to rest on arti- 

 fice till there is joined to natural altruism, as we find it developing 

 in the family, a clearness of vision that sees in the upright dis- 

 charge of the requirements of every social office and station the 

 highest ministry to the welfare of our fellows." 4 He does not 

 show how this vision is to be secured, however, — for this vision 

 itself needs to be interpreted in terms of adaptation. 



Art, according to Ross, as with Comte, is the means of express- 

 ing ideals. It functions in social progress by arousing the pas- 

 sions, by kindling sympathy, by exploiting the aesthetic sense and 

 the sense of the sublime, by perfecting social symbols and by 

 fascinating with new types. It performs one of its greatest 

 functions in transmuting realities and in veiling with some attrac- 

 tive image the grisly features of hardship, mutilation, and death, 

 especially in its glorification of war and sacrifice when these are 

 needed. Art softens inevitable ills, persuades to present hardship 



1 Social Control, p. 235. 3 Ibid., p. 243. 



2 Ibid., p. 242. * Ibid., p. 246. 



