The coarser ones do not carry us very far. It is acknowledged, [pg 073] of course, that the prosperity of society depends upon the moral disposition of its members and that the better the moral condition of society the better is the individual’s expectation of prosperity. But it does not follow that the individual becomes more moral, the better he understands his own interests. The mutual relation between him and society is not of such a character that he derives benefit from the latter just in proportion as he himself by his moral conduct helps to establish its prosperity. If the majority of its members are with short-sighted egoism intent only on their own good, then the man who acts with wider outlook makes sacrifices from which there is no prospect of gain for himself, even if the best happens and they are not lost without benefiting the community. If, on the other hand, through the moral conduct of the majority of its members the condition of society is favourable, the individual profits by it even if he fails to behave towards it as morality demands. By conduct which disregards both past and future, he will carve for himself an unduly big share of personal prosperity out of the prosperity of the community, milking the cow which the rest feed. The influence of the individual on the prosperity of the community and the reaction of social prosperity on that of the individual do not stand in a simple relation to each other which acts equally in both directions. The consideration, therefore, that egoism, rightly understood, will oblige the individual to resolve on activity which is directed to promoting the common good, is a ship which sails well, but leaks. The psychological derivation of altruism from egoism must, then, in some way or other, make an appeal to the self-sacrifice of the individual. This it does by inducing him to consider that in happiness there is a spiritual element as well as a material. Man needs (it is said) not only external prosperity, but to be respected by others and to be satisfied with himself, and he can have this double experience only when he concerns himself about the [pg 074] prosperity of others. Even Holbach, who tries to be inexorably matter-of-fact, lets these considerations speak loudly. The attempt is made, therefore, above the prolonged bass note of the conception of happiness derived from ordinary egoism, to modulate into the spiritualized conception of it.