The Descent of Man and Selection in Relation to Sex, Vol. IDarwin, Charles
Science
The Descent of Man and Selection in Relation to Sex, Vol. I
Darwin, Charles
Evolution (Biology); Human beings -- Origin; Sex differences; Sexual dimorphism (Animals); Sexual selection in animals
The social animals which stand at the bottom of the scale are guided
almost exclusively, and those which stand higher in the scale are
largely guided, in the aid which they give to the members of the same
community, by special instincts; but they are likewise in part impelled
by mutual love and sympathy, assisted apparently by some amount of
reason. Although man, as just remarked, has no special instincts to tell
him how to aid his fellow-men, he still has the impulse, and with his
improved intellectual faculties would naturally be much guided in this
respect by reason and experience. Instinctive sympathy would, also,
cause him to value highly the approbation of his fellow-men; for, as Mr.
Bain has clearly shewn,[120] the love of praise and the strong feeling
of glory, and the still stronger horror of scorn and infamy, “are due to
the workings of sympathy.” Consequently man would be greatly influenced
by the wishes, approbation, and blame of his fellow-men, as expressed by
their gestures and language. Thus the social instincts, which must have
been acquired by man in a very rude state, and probably even by his
early ape-like progenitors, still give the impulse to many of his best
actions; but his actions are largely determined by the expressed wishes
and judgment of his fellow-men, and unfortunately still oftener by his
own strong, selfish desires. But as the feelings of love and sympathy
and the power of self-command become strengthened by habit, and as the
power of reasoning becomes clearer so that man can appreciate the
justice of the judgments of his fellow-men, he will feel himself
impelled, independently of any pleasure or pain felt at the moment, to
certain lines of conduct. He may then say, I am the supreme judge of my
own conduct, and in the words of Kant, I will not in my own person
violate the dignity of humanity.
_The more enduring Social Instincts conquer the less Persistent
Instincts._—We have, however, not as yet considered the main point, on
which the whole question of the moral sense hinges. Why should a man
feel that he ought to obey one instinctive desire rather than another?
Why does he bitterly regret if he has yielded to the strong sense of
self-preservation, and has not risked his life to save that of a
fellow-creature; or why does he regret having stolen food from severe
hunger?
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