New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1893-06-18
SPENCER'S ETHICS.
Ills SECOND VOLUME COMPLETED.
NEGATIVE BENEFICENCE AND PO,ilNE De- De-
EFICENCE. Being Parts and VI OF NE It'll TIL
clplcs Of Ethics. BY Herbert spencer. fp' -o''
4S3. ID. Appleton q Co..

NEGATIVE BENEFICENCE AND POSITIVE n. In ,,;N.
fipIcs Of Eihics' i,y Herbert spencer. PIP. s63
453. %. Appleton d Coz
Mr. Spencer confesses in the preface to TINS DOCK
that the doctrine of evolution has not stood MN
in az good stead as he hoped it might III dealing
with human conduct. He accounts Tor thls ny
calling attention to the infinite complcNlty OIL '"e
actions of so complex being as man, living uhoer
,he complicated conditions Of society," and suggests
that definite conclusions throughout t'' ch'Ic
RANGE of the subject could not he expected. Inc
lack Of a generalization gives these chapters INC
appearance rather Of illustrative essays tnan oil
integral parts in strongly knit synthetic system
Vet he starts ont well from IA discussion of the
habit of discrimination. which, IA he shows oe-
longs in one way or another to the lowest forms
Of life Referring TO tie "Principlcs OF Isy-
chology,' he rciterates the view that all opera
tons of the intellect are. when carefully studied
rccognitions of likeness and unlikcncsS IKE things
being associated with each other and the unlike
things being set of by themselves. This process
hcrins in the most rudlmcntary sensations. If
one closes his eyes in the sunlight, and passes his
hand across the field Of vision, lie will find that
he can discriminate between the presence and alb
eoncc of an opaque object, but that he cannot de-
eide by vision alone as TO the ncarncss or remote
ness of an object or as to its relative size. This
experiment puts one in position to understand
those lowN creatures which instead OF eyes hav"
only points Of pigment more or less sensitive 10
light and TO the interrogation Of light by Objects
The power Of discrimination in these animals 50
far as it depends upon vision, must he very sight
Evidently n creature having only tins naScrnt
vision is at a great disadvanag"-cannot dls-
tncuish between the observation caused Ivy the
moving frond of weed in ihc water it inh1ht'
and the observation caused by a passing creature;
cannot tell whether it results from siIau crea-
turc near at hand n larger one AZ distance:
cannot tell whether this creature is harmless AMI
NAV serve for prey or is prcdacious and must be
avoided The pers of life are far more n'i-
rcrous for such creatures than for Others with
more distinct vision.
The degrees Of accuracy in discrimination may
we'll be supposed TO he evenly graduated between
animals of the lowest powers and those OF III"
highest There is certainly d,fcrcnc" between
hcrbivorous animals ~ apparently equal mt".lI-
gcnce. one Of which rejects poisenouS plant while
the other eats to its own injury. Here. however.
Mr. Spencer introduces one Of his flvoritc forms
Of cNprcssicn. which conccais wholly fall1cl"u'
theory of perception. Us intelligcnc" develops,
complex groups Of attributes are Separated IN
consciousness from Other complex groups. To which
they are In MANY resp cts. similar. ana survival
results from the discrimination: - when III"
fatal Nonkshoo l. distinguished from ia" harm
loss Iarkspur" l. il tru' that ia" Nonk-lin"i
or the Larkspur or any other plant i complex
or ND of attributes in consciousness? II 1t not
rather the truth that the conscol>rcs> Of c1m-
ploXty never exists in any mind except ~ we
rcsu!: Of cluoa'icn? \ yellow primror Is yell
low primrose. but i's imaee III cons 'Io"Si'S' l.
enc thing to Peter Eli, and another I" tire poet
and still another TO the bo-anL,t. HE last nii"I'
/ in fact. has To- have row word for IN" "'y
which he secs. This point l. not trivial ono.
II is the pivot on which tll" reality Of external
filings as revealed 10 consciousness turn bN
the Use II memory and .on q fact 30 conscious
pc,s nay he analyz ii aud arranged ~ fr'fp'
bat this very process imperfect III one i'lI'''
perfect in one NOR" a.tliiclay trnn"!, sh""'
that th, original testimony Of PERCEPTION was
simple. \ little later the author him- IL, n
DIMINISHING tie different DEGREES Of dis1n'na-
ton among men. slys Of tie lr-S Hkiiiui '''-N'
:" Able rs they are when these two plants ar be
fore them 10 see, that though IN" two alc similar
In their eircs mcdci Of growth, deeply cat leaves
colors Of flowers etc. yet tia" structures "f their
flower, are unlike, the majority Il p.op" even
| ,ho.c haylnr GARDENS cannot 80 comPir" their
| idcos If tEcse plants a. to be- able to sty what
the points Of difference are" Surely this I"'rc'
| in pcoplc Of ordinary intelligence ana observation
would be impossible il the Mo&k'h OF ana TIC
Iarkspnr were respectively "coTp'A groups oil
| attributes in Consciousness. II j. because my
are. ms plants. complex group. OF "ttIi""'rs' VI
| which the unframed mind r"rcelv's on'' lFi"HP''
at glance, the trained mind a greater h"mp'r'
that they are rally forcibic illustrations "i "h"'
NJ e,opccr cocs on 10 SAY II IN" unframed
mind ,nnrl ends with such difficulty tn" din renee
Letwccn liz image. Of objects only moderately
comullcatcd how much les viii II D. ahl" :" lis
criminate where tic number AMI IL" 'mtahs l'c''
Of relations aitrihut"S, properties ana actions are
| themselves the only Objects ~ e INST i''>'"N''
| vho., such involved combination, AID processes
of thought must be- kept tos'ilfr IN ,'' 'n''''
IN. ability TO discriminate either from the othcr,
which is like in many respects nn' "i"cr' ~
same essential respect, fails even III many highly
cultured minds He illustrates this dcIectiN"
di.cr mination by auding to a Somewhat notorious
example:
nc moro complc, eases one is furnished by Il
,,,o.r, Incident fGr ease Of tie EasibOIrnr H1lNi-
tionists Most of the townspcoplo obJ'ct 70 'Hcir
| professions headed by noisy balis; WIl' ,",
! ioisterous Christians say that th"E ar si"?!
,unint,inino tina, religions liberty when an no"
admit. But here comes the lack OF d.N'Ililhl-
ZION II is forgotten that, while IN ia" interest
of religious liberty, each citizen or group "i cI'
! 1r,. may rightly p,lfcrm ccrcmOnc, dhll!ay
| 10 his belief in the interests o. general l",.N
individual citizens, or group, OF mem. may iIShlf
| resist intru.iOns upon that peaceful course ~
life they are pursuing. There Is inapHy -
! separate in thought thos" assertions OF r'usIo''
| freedom which do not involve aggi'-slihH Oh
| others from those which do involve aggr~si"ns on
others in the form of nulSanc"-. IN not "hf
do these fanatics fail - Distinguish h't""'H =
| l;,oms liberty and religious liccn-', blt "v"l or
| legislators if We suppos, them 10 be- acting Sh-
| cerrlv instead Of s,sk ing votes also fan
This bit Of history emphasizes To the arti'r :
mind the fact that discriminating however mHci
il max have improved "A botTccn ia" lowest ana
highest creatures, must, at it, best, b. very IN
prrfcct where the things 10 be- Disseminated are
not visible objects and actions. but arr mental
rcprcsentations Of complex aggregates OF things