The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1902-01-26
THE Il QUESTION.
Immortality

and destiny OF man. No question can 10
more thoroughly practical than that which
concerns the authority Of conscicGc. ami
the basis OF morality, personal, social and
international. The effects Of the prnson,
moral doubts and distractions meet I'll,
everywhere, not least in the attack. Il
powerful nations on the independence u
the weak
One OF your correspondents, apparrntl,
a ~thorough-going necessarian, gu"tos -
support Of his theory a passage Of olive
Wendell Holmes:
The more I have observed and reflected
the more limited seems to mo TIE field If
action Of the human will Every pet Of
choice involves a special relation hrtRc,n
the ego and the conditions before II BIT
no man knows what forces are al work 10
the determination OF his ego The bins
which decides his choice bet wecn two or
more motives may come from souc unsu,-
pected ancestral source, Of which be- know
nothing at all lie /, automatic In virtue ~
that hidden spring of reflex action, all the
time having the feeling that he il scli-drtrr.
mining The story Of Elsie lenuer lAu,.
trates the direction ia which my thought
was moving The lima gindry subject 81 To
story obcyed her riH. but her will obeyed tho
mysterious nnte-natal poisoning influence
This passage seems to mo rather literary
thar philosophic. However, il says only
that the human will or whatever II is that
constitutes our moral responsibility i
limited" Nobody supposcs that our Ill.
erty Of choice is unlimited or that the viii
operates in a vacuum. Necessarianism. |
suspect, is at bottom merely n mental puzzle,
which may perplex our conceptions, but
I,aa ,,a, an gAyt .,tr aptinpa NJ. man ~
tically applies it either to his own actions
or to those Of his fellows. The belief upon
which we all act and by which we alway-
judge actions is that Of moral responsibility,
which implies "A freedom of choice, however
limited, Achilles does overtake the tor
toise in spite of a demonstration, apparently
logical. that he will not; and though We
may have a logical difficulty in rebutting
absolute causation we do deliberate and
decide. For my part ] must say that de-
not myself expect to see the exact relation
of will TO prcexisting character and or
cumstance stated in a precise and scieH-
tifc form. Huxley had at one time Ct
himself ~entangled in the notion that man
was an which had become auto
matically conscious OF its own automa'ism,
but ! believe he shook il off in the end
Another Of your correspondents seems
to me, with all Difference be il said, 10 cN-
emplify the tendency of great discoveries.
when victorious in their inevitable Comba'
with prejudice TO pursue their victory too
far. The ~discoverer Of evolution. however,
is not responsible for the present tendency
20 regard the nature Ct man a, merely
physical and 10 treat the community CO.,
Vhat VriYpiYlo WbN. SI3#rIl y4 mot stU.NI
out the human herd as We 40 the herd of
kline or the flock Of sheep, killing ~ 'u"
unpromising and allowing only the organ
i]zations which promise well 10 hv"' \
sufficient reason, setting asid all mo-"
traditional reverence for humanity, l. Tia
while ia the case Of the kline or ia" -l -rp
we can see ev1rything that II necessary
90 determine QUO selection We cannot -"
that which il mos. necessary 20 deter lu'
our selection in the Intellectual and moral
being. man Your correspondent, Il
understand him. would have --"-
put 10 death the -~ocially unfit or
disable them from propagation. What H.
society but the government and WIN
Government. oven with the aid Of M" hes
could 80 see into the inner mar
A. ftly TO undertake the process 81 elm.
Where would the line h"tw''.
social fitness and uuhtne~s b. DRAW
What would he the outward sigu- ~ u'
Those who are convicted az Grim"
might hang or subject 20 the a~lt"Iud'.N.
suggested. But In the cas-" N'
the uucHuvICt-d. what j. your test H.
you ~forc-"e Development Suora''-
roufe,-ad that IL wa through a hard rtrIg
olr that bee attained virtue An ultra -evoll
'loul.i would have eliminated him iu his
ht-t stage Nero. on the other hand. --'
on well
A metaphysical book. II seem- Ia
BE- eighth edition Ihi- show.
d number Of iuluurcr- are -tll upon
track D. there any hops Boz that 81
J. b. possible that u"urai iutr.
.|p.rtiuu should head a. 400 objective truth
Might w. Dot a. we'll lnuF fur s.i"utIh.
10 iIs structure 81 d -.I.utIhn instr.
~ fur uNl~'ty" truth iu OBJ" STRUT
uro - tn, mind, lut''l~.'- ~ tie lgh'-
order ha,. losa devoted 'o %u'taplYsI
with shat rr-Ilr' System suo'e-'i
10 -yslru from thr Dre's pliIp-oph"I-
the -I..Imrr fflm tho p houlm"n Of.
toUuars vlthHui prYFrrrs 90 pfarua
outcome E,.u tho Irpuiri dHuNsr"s
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