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PART V

CULTURAL FORCES

CHAPTER XXVIII

MORALITY

Morality Used in Two Senses. Morality means right conduct; but right conduct is not easily defined. Morality is used in two senses, absolute and relative. In the first sense morality is that form of conduct which will lead to the highest good. This good may be defined variously according to the point of view. Following the principles used in this volume the good may be expressed in terms of the ideal, which was found to be the maximum of life. Morality therefore in the absolute sense is that form of conduct which will produce the maximum of life.

In the relative sense morality refers to that conduct which is definitely approved by a particular group. From this point of view morality is relative because standards change with group experience. In the absolute sense morality is supposed to be unvarying because there can be only one best method of acting to produce the highest development. It is doubtful, however, if this conception of morality is tenable. When we assume an absolute standard of morals we are unconsciously accepting our own highest standard and condemning the standards held by people of supposedly lower grades of development. We look upon their methods as defective, and therefore not moral in the highest sense of the term. But can we suppose that our own standards are absolutely the best? Is it not possible that in future ages standards will be further perfected so that accepted codes of conduct of the present age will be looked upon as inferior and therefore not completely moral? If this is the right attitude, absolute morality would mean an ideal form of conduct as yet unknown and unattained. But there is a still more serious objection to the conception of morality as absolute. The very principle of the evolution of individuals and of social relations implies that no one standard is best for all stages of development; or at least that there is no one standard of action which may be successfully applied in all stages of development. Standards concerned with some of the fundamental social relations, such as respect for life and property, may seem to be unvarying; but this is because the relations of men to one another have always been similar, and hence to kill or to steal has always been looked upon as evil. Yet even these simple standards have varied. The particular individuals whom it has been wrong to kill, and the kind of property which has been entitled to respect, have been classed differently by different peoples. And in the more complicated relations, such as the form of the family and the relations of classes, moral ideals show much greater diversity from one period to another. A conception of absolute morality therefore seems to be impractical: first, because at best it must be conceived of as an unknown ideal; and, secondly, because if the standard were determined it is highly improbable that it would be found to be applicable to all peoples. If morality be regarded then as an objective thing which lends itself to scientific study, it must be conceived of in the second sense, as that conduct which is recognized as best by a particular people at a given time. Morality is a social product which is interlaced with other products and has developed along with them.

The Evolution of Moral Codes. Morality as a subject for the sociologist presents two aspects: on the one side, the nature and evolution of moral codes or standards of conduct; and, on the other side, the observance of these codes, or moral attainment.

Moral standards in the relative sense had their origin in group experience. The satisfaction of man's desires has depended upon coöperation in the performance of certain acts; and the first problem of primitive man was concerned with the successful performance of these acts without injury to the group. At first the formation of precedent was difficult, but as soon as any method seemed to produce the results desired, it was repeated, habits were formed, and what Sumner calls the “ folkways" were built up. The success of early customs was measured not merely

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