Page:Philosophical Review Volume 1.djvu/261

No. 3.] breadth, and completeness of life; and by implication there is a conduct proper to each species of animal, which is the relatively good conduct, a conduct which stands towards that species as the conduct we morally approve stands towards the human species." Certain acts of animals excite in us "antipathy or sympathy." This is true even of birds. "A bird which feeds its mate while she is sitting is regarded with a sentiment of approval." "Egoistic acts, as well as altruistic acts, in animals are classed as good or bad. A squirrel which lays up a store of food for the winter is thought of as doing that which a squirrel ought to do." There are "two cardinal and opposed principles of animal ethics. During immaturity, benefits received must be inversely proportionate to capacities possessed. . . . Contrariwise, after maturity is reached, benefit must vary directly as worth: worth being measured by fitness to the conditions of existence." "These are the two laws which a species must conform to, if it is to be preserved." "What is the ethical aspect of these principles?" "That without gratis benefits to offspring, and earned benefits to adults, life could not have continued"; "by virtue of them life has gradually evolved into higher forms." "On the other hand, it is true," that to them "has been due the carnage and the death by starvation which have characterized the evolution of life from the beginning," and also the appearance of "torturing parasites." "To those who take a pessimist view of animal life in general, contemplation of these principles can, of course, yield only dissatisfaction; but to those who take an optimist view, or even a meliorist view, of life in general, and who accept the postulate of hedonism, contemplation of these principles must yield greater or less satisfaction, and fulfilment of them must be ethically approved. Otherwise considered, these principles are, according to the current belief, expressions of the Divine will, or else, according to the agnostic belief, indicate the mode in which works the Unknowable Power throughout the universe." "If the preservation and prosperity of a species is to be desired," it follows "that, in order of obligation, the preservation of the species takes precedence of the preservation of the individual"; that