The title, “The Ethics of Hercules,” is doubly symbolical. Those who have heard of this ancient hero will immediately recognize the emphasis which is placed upon that type of personality who with strength, skill, and persistence works out the problem that lies nearest at hand. Moreover, Hercules the valiant, the thoroughbred who never once shirked from his task, is here contrasted with Cinderella, the patron goddess of all those ineffectual dreamers, who, instead of balancing their ethical books day by day, whimper after the supernatural, and cultivate an inner life of subterfuge and disorder. We hold here that no man can have freedom given to him, but that he must earn it by positively constructive, honest efforts to adjust himself to and gain control of his environment. The motto of Cinderella is, “Where you are not, there is happiness,” while the motto of Hercules is, “Friends lost, something lost; honor lost, much lost; pluck lost, all lost.” The realization that in all science many false starts are made before a single true one is achieved, makes for caution and vigilance. Seeing, however, that the trend of ethical thought has been continually growing more and more mechanistic, it seems not unlikely that we are at the beginning rather than at the end of a chapter in the empirical science of human nature. If this book utters no more than the first sentence of that chapter, the effort will not have been in vain. CONTENTS I. INTRODUCTION 3 II. A PHYSIOLOGICAL EXPLANATION OF THE ANTAGONISM BETWEEN ALL SUCH WORDS AS “GOOD” AND “BAD,” AND “RIGHT” AND “WRONG” 12 III. THE BIOLOGICAL SIGNIFICATION OF THE WORD “GOOD” 36 IV. THE ACTION-PATTERNS IMPLIED BY THE WORD “BAD,” WITH A NOTE ON THE PHYSIOLOGY OF “EVIL” 58 V. “RIGHT” AS A GESTURAL SIGN 75 VI. THE MEANING OF THE WORD “WRONG” 116 VII. “VIRTUE” AND “VICE” AS FUNCTIONS OF THE ORGANISM 127 VIII. IS CONSCIENCE ALWAYS A PATHOLOGICAL PHENOMENON? 155 IX. THE MITIGATION OF THE CONFLICT BETWEEN FREEDOM AND OBLIGATION 175 X. THE ACQUISITION OF AN ETHICAL TECHNIQUE 189 INDEX 203 THE ETHICS OF HERCULES CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION