Problems of Conduct: An Introductory Survey of EthicsDrake, Durant
Philosophy
Problems of Conduct: An Introductory Survey of Ethics
Drake, Durant
Ethics
(3) This cosmic defiance of Huxley's commands our approval; if
morality interferes with the evolutionary process, let it interfere;
the sooner an immoral process is stopped the better. But, after all,
Huxley unnecessarily limits the meaning of the phrase "the cosmic
process," applying it only to that stage which antedates the
development of morality. That development, however, is itself
natural selection, which in its earlier stages selects merely the
strong and swift and clever, in its later stages selects also the moral
races and individuals. So that to follow out the evolutionary process
is, for man, after all, to follow morality as well as to cultivate
speed and strength and wit.
There is, indeed, a danger to the race from the development of the
tenderer side of morality, in the care for the feeble and degenerate
which permits them to live and produce offspring, instead of being
ruthlessly exterminated, as in ruder days. But this danger can, and
will, be met by measures which, while permitting life and, so far as
possible, happiness, to these unfortunates, will prevent them from
having children. Except for this removable danger, the development
of sympathy and tenderness by no means involves a lessening of virility,
but is rather its necessary complement and check.
Is self-development or self-realization the ultimate end?
It is no justification of morality to say that it is "in harmony with
nature." Is it an adequate justification to say that morality is what
makes for self-development or self-realization? A number of classic
and contemporary moralists, fighting shy of the acknowledgment of
happiness as the ultimate end, have rested content with such expressions.
Darwin wrote, "The term 'general good' may be defined as the rearing
of the greatest number of individuals in full vigor and health, with
all their faculties perfect, under the conditions to which they are
subjected." [Footnote: Descent of Man, chap, iv.] Paulsen writes, "The
value of virtue consists in its favorable effects upon the development
of life...The value of life consists in the normal performance of all
functions, or in the exercise of capacities and virtues...A perfect
human life is an end in itself. The standard is what has been called
the normal type, or the idea, of human life." [Footnote: System of
Ethics, book II, chap. II.]
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