CHAPTER XI
The Absoluteness
of
Right and Wrong
EVOLUTION, which offers natural selection as the explanation of the origin of living forms, consistently with itself accounts for moral things in a similar way. For says Mr. Spencer: "Advancing a step further (than the evolution of structure) we have to frame a conception of the evolution of conduct as correlated with this evolution of structure and function."[1]
We are told that right and wrong have their origin in human relations, and are developed as new conditions of society make additional demands. If there were only one person on the earth, whatever he desired to do would
- ↑ "Principles of Ethics," vol. i., page 8.
