Page:American Journal of Sociology Volume 6.djvu/162

 148 THE AMERICAN JOURNAL OF SOCIOLOGY

beneficent law the fullest freedom of operation, each individual should recognize in others the right to the same unimpeded activity which he claims for himself.

Furthermore, he says, the developing intelligence of men leads to the conscious recognition both of the utilitarian basis upon which it is founded, and to an acceptance of its essentially obligatory character. In other words, although the principle of distributive justice obtains full sway among sub-human species, it is not recognized as doing so in the minds of those over whose destinies it exercises a control. Only among men does the objective operation of the rule result in the formation of a cor- responding subjective feeling that it is right that the individual should submit to the conditions of his natural being and to the requirements of his natural environment in order that the ulti- mate good of his species may be subserved, and that it is proper that he should restrain his desires where their satisfaction will imply an undue interference with the freedom of action of others.

The dread of retaliation, the dread of social dislike, the dread of legal punishment, and the dread of divine vengeance, united in various proportions, form a body of feeling which checks the primitive tendency to pursue the objects of desire without regard to the interests of fellow-men. Containing none of the altruistic sentiment of justice, properly so-called, pro-altruistic sentiment of justice serves temporarily to cause respect for one another's claims, and so to make social cooperation possible. 1

This sentiment, thus produced, in time becomes so firmly grounded in the consciousness of men that it is ultimately mis- taken, as Mr. Spencer alleges, for an innate feeling. Such, indeed, he holds to be the essential character of all supposedly innate or a priori beliefs. 2

From the premises and argument which we have stated it is easily seen how Mr. Spencer is led to the statement of a doc- trine of the proper duties of the state, which limits them to the simple police function of protecting life, liberty, and property.

1 Op. dt. t p. 30.

" One who accepts the doctrine of evolution is obliged, if he is consistent, to admit that a priori beliefs entertained by men at large must have arisen, if not from the experiences of each individual, then from the experiences of the race." (SPENCER, op. cit., p. 55.)