“THE PRINCIPLES OF ETHICS.” 113 
tions to perform certain acts which they would like not to do 
it includes “ the great mass of acts constituting normal life,” the 
practical daily life in which men and women are daily engaged. Of 
course, the foundation of Mr. Spencer’s teaching is the mens scum in 
corpore sano —what he has insisted upon in the “ Education ” and in 
his other works. “Man,” he says, “far above other creatures 
though he is, remains in common with them, subject to the laws of 
life ; and the requirement for him, as for them, is conformity to 
these laws. By him, as by every living thing, self-preservation is 
the first requisite ; since without self-preservation the discharge of 
all other obligations, altruistic as well as egoistic, becomes impos¬ 
sible.” But we do not stop at this. Ethics, as conceived by Mr. 
Spencer, includes the rearing of a family, the behaviour of a 
citizen, the utilisation of all those sources of happiness which 
Nature supplies, the use of our varied faculties to the greatest 
advantage, not only for ourselves but also for others; in a word, 
Ethics teaches “ Howto live completely.” Mr. Spencer deprecates 
the current idea, and points out the “ disastrous effect produced on 
the majority of minds by presenting Ethics as a stern monitor, 
denouncing certain kinds of pleasures while giving no countenance 
to pleasure of other kinds.” Mr. Spencer assumes that “ general 
happiness is to be the aim (for if indifference or misery were to 
be the aim, non-existence would be preferable), then the implica¬ 
tion is that the happiness of each unit is a fit aim ; and a sequent 
implication is that for each individual as a unit, his own happiness 
is a fit aim.” Taking this sentence, so to speak, as a text, we have 
a clue to the subject-matter of the book which follows. 
The principal divisions treated in “ The Ethics of Individual Life ” 
are Activity, Rest, Nutrition, Stimulation, Culture, Amusements, 
Marriage, and Parenthood. Among other rules which Evolutionary 
Ethics furnishes for the guidance of individual life you will find 
“ that a recurring day of rest—a weekly rest—has, if not a 
religious sanction, still an ethical sanction both on physical and 
mental grounds.” Mr. Spencer points out that monotony, no 
matter of what kind, is unfavourable to life—there is need for 
discontinuity in activities, and there is need for recuperation, 
May, 1893. 
