The Relations of Moral Philosophy to Speculation Concerning the Origin of Man [pp. 288-302]

THE PRINCE TON RE VIE W.
elevation which removes man immeasurably above all else that
exists on earth.
The possibility of deterioration in a single lifetime (and
not at all as the result of organic changes affecting successive
generations) is one of the great perplexities for an Evolution
theory. This hypothesis turns attention so much on the unfolding of latent powers that we are tempted to overlook the fact
of regress standing in contrast to progress. A man of welldeveloped physical power can in a few years descend to a level
of degradation quite beneath what can occur in the case of any
animal. Physical deterioration may be the consequence, but
immoral indulgence is the cause. The possibilities of the higher
nature reach downwards as well as upwards. There is a descent
which is not possible to organic life; there is also an ascent
quite beyond the reach of organic evolution, as appears from
the fact that the best developed physique is no guarantee for
the highest human attainments. Now moral degeneracy in a
single life-that is, in the case of a single member of a family
all the members of which are equally affected by a law of heredity, so far as parentage is concerned-presents phenomena
entirely different from those recorded by naturalists urider the
head of "Degeneration." The contrast may be presented by a
quotation from Professor Lancaster's book on "Degeneration:
A Chapter in Darwinism." Lancaster says:" Degeneration
may be defined as a gradual change of the structure in which
the organism becomes adapted to less varied and less complex
conditions of life; whilst elaboration is a gradual change of structure in which the organism becomes adapted to more and more
varied and complex conditions of life" (p. 32). That there is
such degeneration in animal history as here described, is a position established on ample evidence; and that the phenomena of
such degeneration are quite different from the phenomena of
moral degeneracy is equally apparent. Deterioration in organism by gradual change is possible in human history as seen in
generations of the same family or nation; but deterioration in
personal history, which is first moral and then physical, cannot
be included under the description which Lancaster gives. The
phenomena are not explained by reference to organism. Intelligence and imagination are directed on self-indulgence; the
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