He has been so concerned to attack the dogma of inherent and
inevitable progress in human affairs that he has denied the fact
of progress--whether inevitable we know not, but indubitable and
actual--in biological evolution: and in so doing he has cut off
himself and his adherents from one of the ways in which that greatest
need of man which we spoke of at the outset can be satisfied, from by
far the greatest manifestation in external things of “something, not
ourselves, that makes for righteousness.”
One word more, and I have done. There remains in some ways the hardest
problem of all. The greatest experiences of human life, those in which
the mind appears to touch the Absolute and the Infinite--what of
their relation to this notion of progress? They are realized in many
forms--in love, in intellectual discovery, in art, in religion; but the
salient fact about all is that they are felt as of intensest value,
and that they seem to leave no more to be desired. Doubtless when we
say that at such moment we touch the Infinite or the Absolute we mean
only that we touch what is infinite and absolute in comparison with our
ordinary selves. None the less, the sense of finality and utter reality
attendant on them is difficult to bring into line with our idea of
progress.
“I saw Eternity the other night
Like a great ring of pure and endless light,
All calm, as it was bright.”
The Dean too has felt this so strongly that he has made it the keystone
of his argument. As he says, “Spiritual progress must be within the
sphere of a reality which is not itself progressing, or for which in
Milton’s grand words ‘progresses the dateless and irrevoluble circle
of its own perfection, joining inseparable hands with joy and bliss in
over-measure for ever.’”
I would only suggest that for many to attain to such experiences,
which in truth seem to constitute the highest satisfaction at present
conceivable for men on earth, it is necessary to organize the community
and to plan out life in such a way that human beings, released from the
unnecessary burdens of hunger, poverty, and strife, are not only free
but helped and urged to attain to such Delectable Mountains. Spiritual
progress is our one ultimate aim; it may be towards the dateless and
irrevoluble; but it is inevitably dependent upon progress intellectual,
moral, and physical--progress in this changing, revolving world of
dated events.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
(It was felt that the citation of a few works bearing upon the
subject-matter of the essays might help those desirous of pursuing the
subject further; but to more than this the lists make no claim.)
Babcock and Clausen, ’18. “Genetics in Relation to Agriculture.”
New York, 1918.
Bateson, ’22. “Science.” (N.S.) 1922.
Bergson, H., ’11. “Creative Evolution.” London, 1911.
Bury, J. B., ’20. “The Idea of Progress.” London, 1920.
Carr-Saunders, A. M., ’22. “The Population Problem.” Oxford, 1922.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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