VERIFIED
E t h i c s :
O r i g i n
a n d
D e v e l o p m e n t
B y
P e t e r
K r o p o t k i n
C H A P T E R
X I I
D e v e l o p m e n t
o f
M o r a l
T e a c h i n g s - - X I X
C e n t u r y
( C o n t i n u e d )
The
nineteenth
centur y
appr oached
the
pr oblem
of
mor ality
fr om
a
new
viewpoint-that
of
its
gr adual
de v elopment
in
mankind,
beginning
with
the
primitiv e
period.
Regar ding
all
natur e
as
the
r esult
of
the
activity
of
physical
for ces
and
of
e v olution,
the
new
philosophy
had
t o
interpr et
mor ality
fr om
the
same
point
of
view .
The
gr ound
for
such
an
interpr etation
of
mor ality
had
been
alr eady
pr epar ed
at
the
end
of
the VERIFIED
eighteenth
centur y .
The
study
of
the
lif e
of
the
primitiv e
sa v ages,
Laplace ' s
hypothesis
as
t o
the
origin
of
our
solar
system,
and
especially
the
theor y
of
e v olution
in
the
plant
and
the
animal
world,-which
was
alr eady
indicated
b y
Buffon
and
Lamar ck,
and
then,
in
the
twenties
of
the
last
centur y
pr omulgated
b y
Geoffr o y-Saint-Hilair e,-the
hist orical
works
in
the
same
dir ection
written
b y
the
Saint-Simonians,
especially
A ugustin
Thierr y ,
and
finally
the
positivist
philosophy
of
A uguste
Comte-all
these
tak en
t ogether
pr epar ed
the
wa y
for
the
assimilation
of
the
theor y
of
e v olution
in
the
entir e
plant
and
animal
worlds,
and,
consequently ,
as
aff ecting
the
human
r ace
as
well.
In
1859
appear ed
Charles
Dar win ' s
famous
work
in VERIFIED
which
the
theor y
of
e v olution
found
a
complete
and
systematic
elabor ation.
Befor e
Dar win,
in
1850,
the
theor y
of
e v olution,
though
b y
no
means
completely
de v eloped,
was
put
for th
b y
Herber t
Spencer
in
his
"Social
Statics. "
But
the
thoughts
that
he
expr essed
in
this
book
wer e
so
sharply
at
v ariance
with
the
conceptions
then
curr ent
in
England,
that
Spencer ' s
new
ideas
wer e
disr egar ded.
Spencer
was
accor ded
appr eciation
as
a
think er ,
only
when
he
began
t o
publish
under
the
collectiv e
name
of
"Synthetic
Philosophy "
a
series
of
r emarkable
philosophical
r esear ches
in
which
he
expounded
the
de v elopment
of
our
solar
system,
the
de v elopment VERIFIED
of
lif e
on
the
ear th,
and
finally
the
de v elopment
of
mankind,
its
thought
and
its
societies.
Ethics,
as
Spencer
v er y
justly
held,
was
t o
constitute
one
of
the
divisions
of
the
gener al
philosophy
of
natur e.
He
first
analyz ed
the
basic
principles
of
the
cosmos
and
the
origin
of
our
solar
system,
which
came
int o
existence
as
the
r esult
of
the
activity
of
mechanical
for ces;
then
the
principles
of
biology ,
i.e.,
of
the
science
of
lif e
in
the
form
it
assumed
on
the
ear th;
then
the
principles
of
psy chology ,
i.e.,
the
science
of
the
psy chic
lif e
of
animals
and
of
man;
next,
the
principles
of
sociology ,
i.
e.,
the
science
of
sociality;
and
finally ,
the
principles
of
ethics,
i.
e.,
the
science
of
those
mutual
r elations
of
living
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