It is really of comparatively little importance to discover how a given
moral habit first arose; it may have arisen in a hundred different
ways in a hundred different places; indeed, the precise origin of most
of the cardinal virtues lies too far back in the mists of the past
to be traced with assurance. But the important truth to observe is
not the particular details of their haphazard origin but the causes
of their survival. Overlaying the countless originating causes of moral
ideals are two main preservation--causes, two constant factors which
retain certain of the innumerable impulses for one reason or other
momentarily dominant. These are of extreme significance for a
comprehension of the function of morality in life.
(1) In the first place, a certain number of these blind, hit-or-miss
experiments in conduct were, as we have seen, of use to individuals
or the tribe in increasing their chances of survival in the ceaseless
rivalry for life. The inclemency's of nature and the enmity of the
beasts and other men kill more often the less moral than the more
moral. So that in general and in the long run those that developed
the higher moral habits outlived the others and transmitted their morals
to the future. Even within historic times this same weeding-out process
has been observable. On the whole, the races and the individuals with
the more advanced moral standards survive, while those of lower
standards perish.
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