Page:American Journal of Sociology Volume 3.djvu/533

 SOCIAL CONTROL 519

in deeming armor a permanent factor in warfare. So the man of the hour, on reviewing the history of the ideas that have finally enthroned social law in the soul's inner citadel, feels sure that in the growing authority of the " moral law " lies the hope of society. But the one may prove as mistaken as the other. There are tokens that the moral man is not the final type. The man with " outlook," with a realistic sense of the group, with a practical comprehension of the corporate life, may supplant him. The morbid inwardness of the conscientious person may pass away as sympathy ranges farther and group aims become clearer. The dreary stretches of duty may be covered by the rising tide of common life.

The spread of socialistic ideas heralds the advent of a habit of thgught which is destined profoundly to modify our views of con- duct and to hasten the development of the moral man into the social man. While it is safe to predict that collectivism will not prevail, it is certain that the habit of judging all institutions, measures, and policies from the standpoint of the social interest will extend to conduct. The monstrous and crazy deification of the individual into which orthodox ethics has drifted appears more and more absurd as we learn instinctively to place our- selves at the social point of view. It is the maxims of Nietzsche that show where the postulates of moral autonomy would lead us.

Not that this form of control will not leave lasting traces behind it. It has been more than a stop-gap. It has made pos- sible the next ethical phase. It has nurtured a thoughtfulness which we shall need more and more as the social man strives to interpret the welfare of the brethren into the choices of his daily life. Kant has corrected Rousseau, and we shall never again expect the fitful gush of sentiment to carry men through their round of duties. Justice more than Love has thriven since pause and reflection taught us to lodge the casting vote with that spectator within who loves to see self and others contend in equal lists. And Justice, if we mistake not, we shall need even more in the future than we have in the past.

1 IUVARD ALSWORTH Ross.

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