The Descent of Man, and Selection in Relation to Sex

Chapter 5

Chapter 579 wordsPublic domain

COMPARISON OF THE MENTAL POWERS OF MAN AND THE LOWER ANIMALS, continued. The moral sense—Fundamental proposition—The qualities of social animals—Origin of sociability—Struggle between opposed instincts—Man a social animal—The more enduring social instincts conquer other less persistent instincts—The social virtues alone regarded by savages—The self-regarding virtues acquired at a later stage of development—The importance of the judgment of the members of the same community on conduct—Transmission of moral tendencies—Summary.