CHAPTER XV THE DESIRE FOZ RACE CONTINUANCE The second physical de sire, the desire for race-continuance, leads to social activities of equal importance to those resulting from the desire for self-preservation. Economic and genetic forces and institutions are so closely interrelated that they cannot be fully treated independently. This section will serve therefore to elucidate and supplement the preceding section by the new phases of social life it presents. Nature of the Desire. The desire for race-continuance has two manifestations, sex attraction and parental affection, the latter being the later and more refined development. The purpose of the sex instinct is to ensure reproduction, while parental affection is required for the proper care of the offspring. Inasmuch as the number of offspring decreases in the higher forms of animal life, individual care of the young is indispensable for survival. Hence parental affection comes to have increasing significance over sex attraction in the welfare of the higher species. In fact the interest of the most highly developed races of men requires the subordination of the sex instinct to parental desire. It is even possible that parental desire may ultimately be the dominant motive in reproduction. Reproduction may be looked upon as a phase of growth resulting from abundant nutrition. Haeckel defined it as "an overgrowth of the individual.” When single-celled animals, like the amoeba, reach a certain size, further assimilation causes subdivision and the formation of two complete cells. Much the same principle is involved in the reproduction of the higher animals. First, in the young, nourishment goes to physical development, then as physical growth declines sexual development begins. With adults, furthermore, the reproductive desire is strongest when food is most abundant and when energy from 2 a nourishment is not consumed in keeping the body warm. quate nourishment, therefore, is the prerequisite not only of the preservation of the individual but of the preservation of the species as well. The sex instinct, like the instinct for self-preservation, is maintained by the selective process, though the complexity of advanced social life prevents selection from acting so directly and unerringly upon the reproductive desire. On the average, however, persons having little or no desire for race continuance leave fewer offspring; and in the long run the type is gradually subject to elimination. Although parental affection must be considered a part of the desire for reproduction, it does not have its origin in the sex instinct. It arises in the parent out of a consciousness of the helplessness and dependence of a being similar to himself. Hence the growth of parental affection has kept pace with the lengthening of the period of infancy Normal and Abnormal Manifestations. The desire for reproduction, like other desires, has both normal and abnormal manifestations. The former leads to healthy social activities and progress, and the latter to pathological social conditions. In a healthy individual the sex emotion is diffused, influencing both mind and body, and stimulating the highest and most enduring sentiments. On the individual side, sex consciousness inspires sentiments of chivalry, or of mutual respect, between the sexes, and generally increases sympathy for the weak. It acts also as an incentive to the best mental products, especially those of an emotional nature such as music, art, and literature. On the institutional side, the sex desire is the basis of family life, - that indispensable agency for the care of the succeeding generation. Although healthy action of the sex desire is so important for social well-being, this desire is more easily perverted than any other, because the welfare of society does not always coincide with its satisfaction but rather requires its restraint. The perversion of the sexual instinct produces some of the most serious social problems. In a sensualist respect for the opposite sex disappears, or may even change to aversion, and the natural tendency to protect the weak may be replaced by morbid pleasure in cruelty and suffering. The first result of this perversion of instinct on the individual himself is the dissipation of energy, which should be conserved to increase physical and mental vigor; the next is its likelihood of spreading serious diseases which sometimes result in physical and mental degeneracy. Sex perversion also threatens the institution of the family, as it renders the individual incapable of strong attachments for the opposite sex and makes him unfit for parentage, These evil effects on the individual and on family life are reflected in the whole social structure. The perversion of the desire for reproduction has been a potent factor in the decline of civilizations, a well known instance being that of the Roman Empire. The indications are that older societies are specially liable to suffer from perversions of the sex instinct. In such societies there usually exists a large class with economic needs satisfied, who, unless other pursuits absorb their energies, are likely to devote themselves to the mere indulgence of appetites instead of permitting their desires to stimulate them to higher efforts. In addition, a class also appears in which economic competition is so strong as to make the support of a family increasingly difficult without lowering standards of living. And whenever desires cannot be satisfied normally they are liable to perversion. Consequently in modern societies perversions may appear for different reasons both in the rich and the poor classes, but it is the demoralizing example of the idle rich which has the strongest influence in undermining the moral standards of society. |