SOPHEREUS. And do I understand you that in this system of ethics the idea of a moral law proceeding from and consisting of the command of a Supreme Lawgiver is left out? KOSMICOS. Certainly it is. Did I not just now read to you from Mr. Spencer's preface his complete rejection of the supposed sacred origin of moral injunctions, and what he says of the necessity for the secularization of morals to take the place of that system which is losing its authority? SOPHEREUS. And this philosopher is the same writer who negatives the idea of any creation of organic life, and who also negatives the idea that the human mind is an existence of a spiritual nature, owing its existence to a Creator? KOSMICOS. Undoubtedly; we have gone over all that ground. SOPHEREUS. And he is the same philosopher who denies the existence of a Supreme Being, Creator, and Governor of the universe? KOSMICOS. Perhaps you may call it denial, although what he maintains is that we know, and can know, nothing on the subject of a personal God. SOPHEREUS. Very well. I will reflect upon all this until we meet again. FOOTNOTES: [113] Probably Kosmicos did not mean that man excels all other animals in the delicacy and perfection of his nervous organization, for some of his senses are inferior to those of some of the other animals, as his movements are less swift. Apparently his meaning is that, taken as a whole, the nervous organization of man evinces the greatest power of variation and the widest range of action. [114] Darwin's "Descent of Man," pp. 608, 609. [115] Darwin's "Origin of Species," p. 428. [116] "The Principles of Psychology," by Herbert Spencer, third edition. New York: D. Appleton & Co., 1885. [117] "Principles of Psychology," i, p. 162. [118] "Principles of Psychology," ii, p. 503. [119] "Principles of Psychology," ii, p. 503. [120] Revised version. [121] Darwin, "Descent of Man," Part I, chap. iv. [122] "Descent of Man," Part I, chap. iv. [123] Quoted in Darwin's "Descent of Man," p. 123. [124] "Principles of Sociology," i, p. 433, § 202. [125] Ibid., chap. XXV, p. 414 _et seq._ [126] "Principles of Sociology," i, p. 135. [127] "Principles of Morality," vol. i. I. "The Data of Ethics." By Herbert Spencer. New York: D. Appleton & Co., 1884. [128] "The Data of Ethics," pp. 6, 7, by Herbert Spencer. New York: D. Appleton & Co., 1884. [129] "The Data of Ethics," pp. 45, 46, by Herbert Spencer. New York: D. Appleton & Co., 1884. CHAPTER XII. Mr. Spencer's philosophy as a whole--His psychology, and his system of ethics--The sacred origin of moral injunctions, and the secularization of morals.