Page:American Journal of Sociology Volume 5.djvu/791

 THE GENESIS OF ETHICAL ELEMENTS 775

beginning of many an ethical element stands the figure of the Great Man.

Pythagoras contends with the evils of a soft and luxurious society by reviving the Dorian ideal of abstinence and hardihood. Confucius contributes to Chinese civilization the Silver Rule and the majestic outlines of the " superior man." Zoroaster assists the transition from nomadism to tillage with new moral stand- ards, fortified by a book of account and a last judgment. In his injunctions looking to the welfare of agriculture, the extermi- nation of noxious animals, and the care of useful ones, we recog- nize the sage pioneer of progress. Mahomet, with his discovery of the just and compassionate Allah, creates among heathen nomads an ethical monotheism that becomes the corner-stone of a great civilization. Buddha puts new meanings into good and evil, and revalues the objects of human endeavor. St. Francis charms his age with his glowing ideal of a life of pure love freed from the servitude to material things. George Fox makes an appeal to the inmost self that evokes the Quaker con- science.

Whence comes the great man's ethical contribution ? Shall we credit it all to his conscience or to his religious inspiration ? No, we ought rather to lay it to his superior social insight. Usually the ethical grandee appears, as did Confucius or Amos or St. Francis, at a time of disorder, anarchy, and misery. He gazes upon society as the compassionate man looks upon a fever patient. Calmly he makes his diagnosis, thoughtfully he pon- ders the relation of symptom to deep-seated cause. " Here thou ailest," he says, "and here." Then confidently he proclaims his remedy. The prophet is therefore more than "one who pities men." He is a sociological genius. He divines the secret of peaceful union. He knows the terms on which men can dwell happily together. He utters the formula for cooperation. Con- fucius, with his doctrine of the five relations; Zoroaster, with his principle of piety in thought, word, and deed ; Pythagoras, with his ascetic ideal ; Jesus, with his maxim of returning good for evil — each brings his prescription. Each comes forward as a social physician.