The Philosophical Review/Volume 1/Summary: Rosenberger - Ueber die fortschreitende Entwicklung des Menschengeschlechts
I. Intellectual Development: That an addition has been made to the stock of knowledge is nowhere denied. The question in dispute is whether the race has grown in mental power. All mental activities are conditioned by the constitution of the brain. If, then, a development could be proved for this organ, the above question would have to receive an affirmative answer. But owing to the objections raised against the law of inheritance, R. surrenders this line of argument for the following: Our knowledge is intuitive and deductive. The deductive method being merely a method of proof is incapable of development. All intuitive cognition depends on the pure forms of the mind, space, time, substance, causality, etc., by means of which the material offered by the senses is combined into a unity. Our intuitions of space and time discover a marked advance. Our conception of the universe has been enlarged so as to embrace the notion of an infinite number of solar systems. On the other hand, the microscope reveals to us wonderful microcosms. Chemistry divides matter into molecules which are further subdivided until we have an infinite individualization. The physicist conceives such particles as being in constant motion, and thus arrives at the notion of infinitely small spaces of time. A similar progress may be ascribed to the forms of the intellect. Apparently disparate phenomena have been combined into new unities, physics gathering all causes under the concept of physical energy.
An improvement of the brain runs parallel with this intensification of mental powers, and such acquired qualities are transmitted to subsequent generations. Though the advance is temporarily retarded by unfavorable conditions there is, nevertheless, a gradual elevation of human intelligence.
II. The Progress of Human Happiness: Passive happiness invariably ends in surfeit and disgust. Free, unhindered activity is the only source of human felicity. This activity must be turned to definite ends, and be fruitful, in order to be accompanied by a feeling of satisfaction. Labor is the only source of human happiness. If it can be shown that there has been an increase of human activity, the question as to the progress of happiness is settled. The races of antiquity were restricted to the use of muscular forces, being almost utterly ignorant of the advantages offered by the forces of inorganic nature. Man has extended his control over nature by his discovery of heat and electricity. Every advance in this direction indicates a corresponding increase of human activity, which in turn means a surplusage of happiness. Of course, the complete unfolding of all the powers of the race is possible only through the concerted action of its members. Every conflict within the whole means a waste of energy, and obstructs progress. The more intricate the system of co-operation becomes, the more difficult is the harmonious regulation of society. The solution of this problem must be left to the social sciences, and these also must attempt to remove inequalities. But the individuals themselves have to direct their powers to the attainment of social happiness.
III. The Progress of Human Virtue: Virtue is a relative notion. He is virtuous who furthers the activity of his fellows, in so far as this conduces to the welfare of the whole and of the individual. Egoistic virtue seeks the enlargement of the individual's sphere of activity to the disadvantage of other individuals. The application of such a principle would result in the bellum omnium contra omnes, and would defeat itself. For egoism the partial or total destruction of the individuality through disease or death is absolutely tragical. Egoism, therefore, necessarily ends in pessimism, while pessimism indicates the conscious bankruptcy of egoism. Egoism signifies vice, humanism, virtue. Family life makes against egoism, and is the source of virtue. Whatever disturbs it impedes the advance of human virtue. Monogamy is the indispensable natural form of marriage. But if we define virtue as the furtherance of social activity, the ends of the individual cannot be confined to a narrow sphere, which having its own peculiar egoism, would be a drawback to general progress. The circles must, therefore, widen. Now the existence of the state testifies to the fact that the range of human virtue has been enlarged. Social organizations are growing in number and in the extent of their free activities. The highest end will have been attained when each individual controls himself, and there is no need of external state-compulsion: Such a goal is, to be sure, an ideal one, the approach to it, consequently, slow. It cannot be gainsaid, however, that the state is gradually extending the boundaries of its activity. Humanism does not require the sacrifice of the individual and of individual consciousness; the individual must act, and, in order to act, must feel himself as a personality, a demand which makes a certain amount of egoism necessary. It is, however, no absolute egoism, but one that feels itself one with a wider circle, whose welfare it furthers as its own.