The Scientific Basis of National Progress, Including that of Morality

As new scientific knowledge has increased, belief in witchcraft, sorcery, demonology, exorcism, evil influences and omens, unseen spirits, a God of evil, supernatural and occult powers, supernatural sources of strange diseases, evil presages from comets and eclipses, fetishism, worship of images and of the Sun, a belief that the Earth is the chief body in the Universe, that man is the "Lord of Creation," &c, &c. have largely passed away, and beliefs more consistent with facts and with true inferences drawn from them, have taken their place. Belief in the supernatural nature of the human will however is still largely retained. A writer on morality, says – "In every genuine volition we have a phenomenon not law-determined, law-regulated, and law-explained."15 A popular expositor of religion says – "The phenomena of the human soul are essentially different from the phenomena with which the student of science is most familiar, and must be investigated on other principles and by other methods." "The voluntary activity of man lies beyond the limits of science." "Every language man has ever spoken – no matter how perfect or how rude – the literature of the ancient and the modern world, the indestructible instincts of the human soul, the testimony of consciousness, unite to affirm that the human will is independent of natural law." "The will is a supernatural power." "I myself am not under the dominion of natural law;" "my moral life is essentially a supernatural thing." "As soon as you approach the intellectual and moral life of man, you enter a region in which you have to do with a new order of facts." &c.16

Morality, the subject of duty, or of right and wrong-doing in conscious creatures, is usually considered to relate only to those actions over which a man has or might have had control, and which it was his duty either to perform or avoid, and not to those which are entirely beyond his influence, it is therefore essentially dependent upon the power of selection or choosing. As then all moral actions require voluntary choice between right and wrong, and every act of choice is a mental one of comparison of two or more things, all moral actions are mental ones. We cannot compare things which have not made any mental impression upon us. We know further, and the evidence already given proves, that mental actions are intimately dependent upon the principles of nature operating within and around us. If then all acts of morality (or immorality) are mental ones, and if all mental actions are intimately dependent upon the great principles of nature; then all acts of morality are dependent upon those principles. Morality also cannot be properly understood without a knowledge of various sciences, especially biology, because it relates to human creatures, all of whom are morally affected by the various forces and substances belonging to the physical and chemical sciences.

Having shown that moral actions are mental ones, and adduced evidence to prove that mental actions are largely subject to scientific principles; – it follows as a necessary consequence, that moral actions also largely obey those principles, and I need not repeat that evidence.

The extension of scientific knowledge conduces in a very general way to moral progress, by diffusing the "scientific spirit," increasing our love of truth, facilitating the attainment of greater certainty and accuracy, enabling us to more perfectly avoid error, reducing our ignorance, dispelling superstition, inculcating obedience to law, diminishing difference of opinion and thereby lessening strife, conducing to humility, to greater economy of means, to increased cleanliness, &c, &c. Scientific research also, by disclosing to man his true position in nature, enables him to act in harmony therewith, and thus increase his morality and general happiness.

Knowledge is as free as the air, once diffused it becomes impressed upon the brains of men and cannot be easily destroyed or restrained; and the greatest moral effects of science are cosmopolitan ones. Inventions based upon new scientific truths are gradually breaking down the barriers between the various nations of the Earth, and infusing common interests amongst all mankind. Nothing is uniting the sympathies of different nations, increasing the friendly feelings between them, and diminishing the probability of war, more than the increasing facilities of communication brought about in a great measure by the developments of science and art; more particularly by ocean steam navigation, rapid postal communication and the telegraph, (see p. 51). At the present time there are about six Atlantic telegraph cables in use, and an almost daily service of passenger steam ships across that ocean. The use of inventions based upon scientific discovery has aided moral progress in various ways. All inventions are made with the object of supplying some real or supposed want, and nearly everything which supplies a common want, conduces to contentment and happiness and the general progress of mankind. No one can possibly measure or estimate the advantage of the inventions of writing and printing, in helping men to avoid quarrels, to settle differences of opinion, to sympathise with suffering, to give advice: &c. Similar moral functions are also performed by the electric telegraph, and a few specimens of some of the messages sent through the wire would clearly illustrate this fact. Great moral progress has also resulted from cheap daily intelligence, collected largely with the aid of the telegraph; and of cheap books produced by means of the steam engine. It is estimated that 250 millions of copies of newspapers are yearly published in Great Britain. The Bible and Religious Tract Societies could hardly have existed had not the properties of the ingredients of ink been discovered. The present multiplicity of testaments, prayer-books, hymn-books, &c., has also been rendered possible by the invention of printing. As darkness is favourable to crime, so the invention of gaslight has conduced to morality. The numerous sources of intellectual and moral enjoyment, developed by inventions based upon scientific discovery, have attracted mankind from more sensual and less moral amusements, and the invention of the piano-forte has operated largely in a similar manner.

In many respects, the poor man of to-day can command social comforts, conveniences, and pleasures, which an emperor could not in former times. Who can estimate the amount of beneficial moral influences of an indirect kind obtained by means of modern science? The relief from pain by chloroform and other new medicines, the diminution of domestic toil by the sewing machine; the increased health and pleasure obtained by access to the country and seaside by means of railways; the diminution of anxiety resulting from more speedy conveyance of letters, and especially of messages by telegraphs, the increased pleasure of life resulting from being surrounded by objects of beauty multiplied cheaply by means of scientific processes, such as photography?

The human mind cannot greatly resist impression, the various effects of scientific research necessarily produce an influence upon it. Whilst great deep-seated truths make a powerful impression on the minds of philosophers, the great practical effects of science in inventions, &c., profoundly impress the mass of mankind. One of the chief influences of the discovery of important scientific truths and of their practical application in some wonderful way, such as in the telescope and microscope, phosphorus matches, photography, electro-plating, the electric light, the spectroscope, microphone, telephone, &c., is to produce a profound and wide-spread impression of the existence of a great and mysterious influence, which produces (or enables us to produce) such striking effects.

Whilst also the novelty of the practical effects of new scientific truths in inventions, astonish persons in general; the definiteness of scientific phenomena, and the certainty with which they may be reproduced convince all competent persons who examine them, that they are rigidly subject to definite laws. In this way the antique belief that natural phenomena are produced by supernatural agencies, is gradually being abandoned, and the more moral conviction of the omnipresence and universality of law has been largely established in its stead. Every new scientific fact and invention thus becomes a new proof of the universality of law. Belief in the supernatural has diminished in proportion as scientific knowledge has advanced; instead of natural phenomena being erroneously ascribed to demons, spirits, supernatural powers, and occult causes, they have been proved to be results of natural powers, acting in accordance with known principles. Assertions which have been made, that "the will is a supernatural power, independent of natural law" &c., are not supported by evidence at all equal in cogency to that in proof of the statement, that our mental and moral powers as a whole act in accordance with the great principles of science.

That moral phenomena, like those of the physical sciences, are capable of being made the subject of experiment, observation, comparison, analysis, and inference, is very manifest. Every case of bribery may be viewed as an experiment in morality. The very common case where an employer tests the honesty of a servant by some contrivance, is also a trial of a similar kind. The dependence of the moral powers upon scientific conditions, is clearly seen in the influences of intoxicating drinks. A mere natural substance could not possibly overcome the influence of a power which exists entirely independent of it; i. e., a "supernatural" one. Even the greatest believer in the "supernatural" power of the human will, deplores the serious injury which the abuse of alcoholic liquors produces upon mankind, rendering the will powerless, and debasing the moral sentiments. The effects of opium, haschisch, &c., are other examples. A vast number of experiments remain to be made of the effects of drugs and organic compounds, both solid, liquid and gaseous, upon moral actions; which will probably prove a still greater degree of dependence of those actions upon purely physical and chemical conditions.

The "order of facts" in the subject of morality requires precisely similar mental treatment to those to which scientific investigation has been already applied with such great success, and which include all phenomena admitting of observation, comparison, analysis and inference; and not only those in which we are able, but also those in which we are not able to produce by means of experiment, the phenomena to be observed, such as those of astronomy and geology. Different subjects also are experimental in different degrees, physical science is more experimental, physiology is more observational; morality is partly experimental, and therefore capable of reduction to scientific system by means of our intellectual powers.

In consequence of the essential nature of truth being the same in all subjects, and of the fundamental processes of mental action in the determination of truth being also alike in all, the essential modes of arriving at and detecting moral truth are the same as those employed in research in the physical sciences. We possess therefore no special faculty, call it "conscience," or what we may, by which we are enabled to infallibly arrive at truth in moral questions. What is right and good, and what is wrong and evil, are determined by precisely the same general means as what is true; our much vaunted consciousness alone does not infallibly tell us; reason alone, acting upon the evidence, is the final arbiter in any doubtful or disputed case. The truth of moral questions must be examined and tested by precisely the same mental faculties and processes as those employed in physical science, viz: – by the faculties of perception, observation, comparison, and inference, acting upon the whole of the evidence; and by the processes of observing facts, comparing them, inferring conclusions; by analysing and cross-examining the evidence in every possible way, and extracting from it the largest amount of consistent knowledge.

Although we cannot detect moral truth by any other than intellectual processes, we may however arrive at correct moral conduct in two ways, viz: – either blindly or intelligently. We arrive at it blindly or automatically by the process of trusting to our inherited and acquire tendencies and dogmatic beliefs; and intelligently by the conscious use of our knowledge and intellectual powers; and each of these methods has its advantages. The former process being an empirical one, is very uncertain and cannot be employed for the judicial detection of truth, or the certain discrimination of it from error, it has however to be trusted to in all cases where we are deficient in knowledge, or have not time for investigation. Truthful ideas and correct conduct also, which at first require the exercise of considerable intellect and much self-discipline, in order to arrive at them, become by habit so completely converted into acquired tendencies as to be automatic. It is not improbable that many of our truthful ideas and correct tendencies were originally arrived at by intellectual processes; and have become incorporated into our mental and physical structure by habit, education, and inheritance.

The scientific basis of morality is further shewn and essentially proved by the fact that the fundamental rules of morality are dependent upon scientific principles. According to Dr. Clarke, the two fundamental "rules of righteousness" which regulate our moral conduct are, first, that we should do unto another what we would, under like circumstances, have him do unto us; and second, that we should constantly endeavour to promote to the utmost of our power, the welfare and happiness of all men (to the latter might well be added, the welfare of all sentient creatures). The first of these rules is essentially dependent upon the scientific principle of causation, viz: – that the same cause, acting under the same circumstances, always produces the same effect, if what we did for another person under like circumstances might produce a different effect to what it would when done for ourself, the rule could not be depended upon and would be of no use. The second also agrees with the great principles of science, for the more we obey those principles, the more do we really "promote the happiness and welfare of all men." The first of these rules however in the form usually stated, is incomplete, because it does not provide for the circumstance, that many persons desire to have done unto themselves, not that which is most right, and really most for their welfare and that of mankind in general, but that which would most please them. The desire of immediate pleasure or consolation is greater than the love of truth in nearly all men, and this is connected with another fact, viz: – that persons unacquainted with the great principles of science, have not the advantage of the moral sustaining power of those principles, and are compelled in circumstances of trial to seek extraneous mental relief.

The desire to do right is not the primary source of morality; there must be a cause for that desire, and this fact also shews that moral phenomena are dependent upon the scientific principle of causation. We can also much better understand a subject, especially a complex one like that of morals, when we can co ordinate its facts in a scientific manner, by referring them to some general principle which governs or includes them. Referring moral actions to a verified scientific principle, is more satisfactory than referring them to a less definite source such as "conscience"; the "testimony of consciousness"; or "the indestructible instincts of the human soul," because a principle affords a more consistent explanation than a dogmatic idea. The fact also that the discoveries of science usually precede the developments of the moral advantages of science to mankind, is in harmony with the general truth that effects follow their causes, and with the conclusion that moral rules and moral progress have a scientific basis.

In a general way, the influence of science upon moral progress is connected with what has been termed, "the scientific spirit." This characteristic consists mainly of an intense love of truth, a desire to acquire new knowledge, to arrive at certainty and accuracy; also an obedience to law in general, and a consequent philosophic resignation to inevitable ills. Science inculcates these qualities, and it is well known that scientific discoverers have usually been highly moral persons, truthful, accurate, law abiding, patient, persevering, temperate, &c. On the other hand, the most lawless persons are usually those who are most ignorant of the great laws which govern their actions, who over-estimate human power and ability, and are impelled by ill-regulated enthusiasm or feeling.

Belief in and obedience to law, being a fundamental moral quality, is in its turn the source of other moral qualities of less importance; for instance, it tends to produce calmness, resignation, contentment, patience, submission to the inevitable, &c. No man can be highly moral who disobeys the great principles of nature. We may however obey those laws either intelligently, by acquiring a scientific knowledge of them; empirically, by obeying rules framed in accordance with them; or blindly, by obeying dogmas which happen to agree with them. Those who do not understand laws cannot of course intelligently obey them, and those who most disobey them, consist nearly wholly of those who do not understand them. Superstition, ignorance of natural law, and a belief in occult powers, encourages lawlessness, injures the moral sentiments, and is often attended by bigotry, associated with strife, schism, and sectarian dispute.

Probably the greatest influence which scientific discovery has had upon the moral progress of mankind, has been by inculcating an intelligent love of truth on account of its own intrinsic goodness; in this respect it stands pre-eminent. Love of truth is a fundamental virtue because it is the basis of many smaller ones. It is more virtuous, also, to pursue truth on account of its own intrinsic and unqualified goodness in all respects, than for any narrow extrinsic quality, such as the personal pleasure or utility it may afford, or on account of any personal gain or loss, reward or punishment, which may result from pursuing or neglecting it. In the present imperfect state of civilization however, the great bulk of mankind unavoidably employ less noble, as well as the noblest motives, as a means of improvement. Most men can only be moved to do right by means of inferior motives, one of the most effectual of which in a commercial nation is "small investments, large profits, and quick returns;" an expectation of great reward in return for small self-sacrifice.

The discovery and dissemination of verified scientific knowledge is a purer kind of occupation than the promulgation of any kind of dogma, because the statements of verified science are usually capable of demonstration, whilst those of doctrine, being often contradictory, may, or may not be true; mere affirmation also, when not based upon proof, is often dangerous to morality. In dogmatic subjects a man may tell untruths with impunity, because no one can disprove or convict him; but in demonstrable ones, a man dare not utter falsehoods, because others will prove his statements to be erroneous. It is demonstration rather than doctrine that is of divine origin. A man also who practises scientific research is largely compelled to adopt the most truthful views of nature, in order to enable him to make discoveries.

Real science is largely independent of opinion or faith. Whether we believe or not that a piece of clean iron immersed in a mixture of oil of vitriol and water, evolves hydrogen gas, the fact itself remains unaltered. It is a great and glorious circumstance for mankind, that human progress depends essentially upon a knowledge of new verified truth. As verified experimental knowledge can only come from the great source of all that is good, to doubt the value of new demonstrable truth, is practical atheism. Those also who systematically investigate sources of verifiable truth, are much more likely to ultimately arrive at the fountain of all truth, than those who employ unsystematic methods, or prefer unproved beliefs to verified knowledge.

Another of the most powerful ways in which scientific discovery has promoted moral progress has been an indirect one, viz., by diminishing ignorance. Deficiency of knowledge is the parent of a vast amount of evil and failure. "There is no instance on record of an active ignorant man, who, having good intentions, and supreme power to enforce them, has not done far more evil than good." (Buckle, "History of Civilization," vol. 1, p. 167). Ignorance largely precludes happiness, and intelligence is an indispensable condition of the highest morality. There are plenty of difficult positions in life in which the desire to do right is not alone sufficient, we must intelligently know what is the right course to pursue. We are all of us ignorant in different degrees, and must be content in many matters to walk by faith until we can walk by sight, and to act according to rule and precept until we have discovered general principles to guide us: – blind dogmatic morality and "rule of thumb" method is vastly better than none, and has rendered great services to mankind. Whether comforting doctrines are true or not, the great bulk of mankind prefer them because they afford immediate relief; and whether they be erroneous or truthful, men will be benefited by them and continue to believe in them, until their minds are sufficiently advanced to receive a knowledge of verified principles. Rules of morality however, when presented to us with a basis of demonstrable truth, come with a degree of divine authority, and possess greater claim to our observance, than the same rules presented to us as empirical or dogmatic statements only.

In proportion to our ignorance the more we dislike to be apprised of our defects and the more inclined are we to continue uninformed; because the less intelligent we are the less are we able to perceive the evil effects of our blindness or the advantages of knowledge. As also the present state of civilization is very imperfect, and unsolved problems exist in all directions, ignorance and all its evil consequences are extremely prevalent. It causes the great mass of mankind to neglect better objects for the sake of money. It indirectly constrains lawyers to neglect moral evidence. It induces medical men to withhold truth from ignorant patients. It causes ministers of religion to prefer doctrine to demonstration. It would therefore be comparatively easy to compose lists of our moral deficiencies, and of improvements urgently needed in morality, far more extensive than the very incomplete ones of our material shortcomings already given (see pp. 68 to 78). To enumerate however the imperfections in the moral conduct of mankind, the frauds in trades, the undue advantage taken of the defenceless, the deceit and empiricism in professions, the professional trading on human weakness, the cruelty of field sports, the hollow motives of social, political, and religious life, the propagating as infallible truth, doctrines which may be fallacious, is not the object of this Chapter; but rather to make clear the fact, that the extension of the domain of verified truth by means of scientific research is highly conducive to moral progress.

The extension of new scientific knowledge is influencing morality and gradually reducing the selfishness of mankind, by proving that there exist no royal roads to happiness, and that the greatest amount of individual and national success can only be secured by a genuine pursuit of truth, as an individual and cosmopolitan duty. Increased knowledge is gradually proving to mankind that the purest happiness is to be obtained by intelligent and virtuous conduct. By shewing Man the unreasonable character of some of his fears and hopes, and substituting for them a greater variety and extent of intellectual pleasures, science is slowly making him more satisfied with his lot on this Earth. Meanwhile the great mass of mankind are still pursuing the ever retreating phantom of an easy way to happiness; the great laws of nature however cannot be evaded, the avoidance of evil and the attainment of good can only be secured by obeying all the great laws which govern our nature.

Progress in morality is largely dependent upon the diffusion of belief in the universality of scientific laws. When men understand those laws, know that their action is irresistible, and that they have no alternative but to obey them or suffer, they acquire a habit of obeying them. Universality of law in moral actions is often considered to be incompatible with the existence of freedom of the will in selecting ideas, and choosing courses of conduct; but we are free or not, according to circumstances, both to think and to act. All things are free to be active or not, in accordance with their properties and surrounding conditions, but not in contradiction to them; and the human will is no exception to this statement. The "will" is only free within certain limits; it cannot act in opposition to its strongest motives or causes of action. We believe ourselves to be much more free than we are, because we often do not know the causes which determine us, and we frequently fail to detect those influences, because we cannot think, and at the same time clearly observe our act of thought and its motives. Freedom of the will does not enable us to set aside laws: entire freedom from law in any instance is probably only apparent. This limited degree of freedom of the will indicates the dependence of volition upon scientific laws, because a supernatural power, being entirely independent of natural law, could not be limited by it. To affirm without proof that the human will is a "supernatural power" is to implicitly deny the universality and constancy of natural laws. New knowledge developed by Science, imparts to us liberty, but not license; and, so far from diminishing the freedom of the will, increases it by showing us what conditions we must fulfil and obey in order to effect our objects. We acquire power by being first obedient; and this is in accordance with the principles and facts of science; we must obey nature before we can make nature obey us; the elementary bodies, also, usually acquire the free state, latent power, and the ability to evolve heat and electric energy, only by being first subjected in their crude state to a process of reduction and purification.