Till-: AMHR1C.\\ JOURNAL OF SOCIOLOGY
and the race, or, exposed in the language of theology, between man and God. In a pain economy a state of happiness at all prolonged is incompatible with safety. This is the true explana- tion of the austere ethical code under which we live, which, like every other structure, whether anatomical or social, tends to per- sist long after the causes that brought it forth have ceased to act.
The preservation, perpetuation, and increase of the human family, as well as the general development and perfectionment of our race and of all organic forms, which constitute what I have called the ends of nature, form, it is true, an inspiring theme,
- ind an object well worthy of the tremendous sacrifices that have
been made to secure it, yet, properly viewed, it has nothing whatever to do with economics. That science is based exclu- sively on the idea of utility in the narrower sense of good to the individual, and, however paradoxical it may sound, these grand objects are, in and of themselves, absolutely of no use. That is to say, utility relates solely and exclusively to what I have called the ends of the sentient creature, or, in the human sphere, the ends of man, and this notwithstanding that, as I have shown, the pursuit of such ends is purely incidental and unintended, and forms no part of the general scheme of nature.
But inasmuch as we have this dualism as one of the most remarkable facts of existence, it is the part of wisdom to recog- nize it and try to understand its significance. Instead of a mere temporary episode in the history of the world, it is a permanent condition. It has come to stay, and already its effects in every department upon which it has exerted an influence have been most sweeping. It has completely revolutionized some of these departments, even below the human plane, and its power over human and social affairs is stronger than anywhere else. This assertion of the claims of feeling, this Bejahung des Willens zum Leben, this soul of nature, is what I have elsewhere 1 character- ized as the "transforming agency," and I have indicated some ui the fields in which its activity has been greatest, and enumer- ated certain of its achievements.
' Tht Psychic Factors of Civilization, chap. 14.
