In order to maintain
his life in the face of the many obstacles that thwart and dangers
that threaten him, man must present a solid front to the universe.
All clashes of interest, friction, and civil strife, all withholding
of help, means a weakening of his united forces, an invitation to
disaster. And even where life becomes relatively secure and individualism
possible, the greatest good for the greatest number is attainable only
by continual cooperation and mutual sacrifice. So vital is it to each
member of the community that selfishness and cruelty in others be
repressed, that society cannot afford to leave at least the grosser
forms of egoism unpunished. Men must enforce upon one another that
mutual regard which individuals are constantly tempted to ignore, but
without which no man's life can find its adequate fulfillment or
security. No man, then, can be called moral, can be said to have found
a comprehensive solution of life, however self-controlled and pure
he may be, if he is cruel, or even lacking in consideration for others.
This is the most glaring defect in both Epicureanism and asceticism;
both are fundamentally selfish. For the proper adjustment of life to
its needs we must turn rather to Christianity, or to Buddhism, with
their ideals of service; to the patriotic ideals of the noblest Greeks;
to Kant, with his "So act as to treat humanity, whether in their own
person or in that of any other, as an end, never as a means only";
or to the British utilitarians with their "Every one to count for one,
and only one.
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