The pressure that pushes men into them
must be eased, the ignorance and foolishness that foster them must
be dissipated by education and moral training. And for all the social
maladjustments that are NOT due to vice and sin, other remedies must
be found. The road to social salvation is long and beset with many
difficulties, but the goal is not hopeless of attainment; and every
step toward the goal is so much gain. Because we cannot now see how
to remedy all evils must not be a pretext for refusing to lend a hand
to movements that are of proved value.
How can we reconcile egoism and altruism?
Although altruism is usually wise from the individual's own standpoint,
it does not always seem so. The commonest moral clash is between the
individual's apparent good and that of others; the cases in which one
man's position, wealth, success precludes another's are everyday
occurrences. Must this conflict be eternal? Is there any way of
reconciling these opposing interests except by an unhappy and
regrettable sacrifice? Must life be a perpetual compromise, a "social
contract," a treaty to make reciprocal concessions, with every one's
real interests at war with every one else's? Certainly the altruistic
summons cannot be ignored; we cannot all follow our egoistic impulses;
in the common disaster we should be individually involved. And, indeed,
the altruistic impulses have become so deeply rooted in our natures
that, turn away from them as we might, they would yet persist in the
form of an undercurrent of dissatisfaction and remorse.
Pages:
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170
171
172
173
174
175
176