,,thrasymachus                          
,,thrasymachus                          
,,or                             ,the   
,future of ,morals                      
,,by                               ,c4  
,e4 ,m4 ,,joad                          
,illustration                           
,new ,york                          ,e4 
,p4 ,,dutton  ,,company                 
#fha ,fifth ,avenue                     
,copyright #aibf                        
,,by ,e4 ,p4 ,,dutton  ,,company        
,all ,rights ,reserved                  
,first ,printing      ,december1 #aibe  
,second ,printing        ,march1 #aibf  
,printed in the ,united ,states of      
,america                                
,,contents       ,,chapter              
,,page          ,i4 ,,morality ,,as     
,,the ,,interest ,,of ,,the ,,stronger  
#a         ,,ii4 ,,herd ,,morality ,,and
 ,,the ,,new ,,tyranny ,,of ,,thought   
#ac        ,,iii4 ,,the ,,new ,,liberty 
,,of ,,action                           
#cg         ,,iv4 ,,the ,,coming ,,clash

                                  #eg   
,,thrasymachus                          
,,chapter ,i                            
,,morality ,,as ,,the ,,interest ,,of   
,,the ,,stronger      ,thrasymachus     
appears in the first book of ,plato's   
,republic1 in  which the speakers       
discuss the nature of ,justice4 ,several
 tentative  definitions of ,justice are 
given1 which ,socrates has no difficulty
  in showing to be inadequate by the    
peculiarly irritating methods  of       
dialectic for which the ,athenians so   
excusably poisoned him4  ,thrasymachus  
then breaks in4 ,he is a blustering1    
overbearing personage1  who makes long  
speeches instead of answering ,socrates'
 questions1 and1  when driven into a    
corner1 charges the latter rather       
irrelevantly with  having a bad cold and
 omitting to use his handkerchief4      
,required to sustain an unpopular       
thesis1 he is not unnaturally           
represented as an offensive person4 ,the
 trick is an old one and argues  well   

for ,plato's sense of dramatic fitness4 
,it should not1 however1  blind us to   
the plausibility of ,thrasymachus'      
position4 ,justice1 he  says1 is the    
interest of the stronger4 ,asked how he 
maintains this  view1 he points out that
 the stronger control the government and
 make  the laws4 ,these laws are not    
unnaturally made in their own interest2 
in other words1 matters are so contrived
 that1 by the mere process of  obeying  
the laws1 citizens are led to further   
the interests of those  who govern them4
 ,morality1 which is the name we give to
 law-abiding  conduct1 is1 therefore1 a 
device on the part of the rulers to     
ensure  subservience and contentment on 
the part of their subjects4 ,since      
subservient subjects are a joy and a    
credit to intelligent rulers1 we  may   
say that justice1 and indeed morality in
 general1 is the interest  of the       
stronger4    ,the view that morality is 
unnatural to human beings and is imposed
  by law in the teeth of primitive      

instincts which are fundamentally       
non-moral1 recurs at pretty regular     
intervals throughout the recorded       
history of what passes for human        
thought4 ,it rests upon what is called  
the social contract theory of society1  
and leads to the conclusion that  human 
nature is fundamentally wicked4    ,the 
life of man in a state of nature was1 as
 the philosopher ,hobbes  tells us1     
8solitary1 poor1 nasty1 brutish and     
short40 ,his hand was  against his      
fellows and every man's hand was against
 him4 ,men acted  offensively#a towards 
each other as and when they pleased1 and
 were  restrained by nothing but fear   
for their own safety4 ,finding this     
state  of affairs intolerable1 men      
agreed to renounce their natural right  
to  act offensively towards their       
fellows on condition that their fellows 
made a similar concession as regards    
themselves4 ,the best thing of all1  of 
course1 was to do what you liked to     
others without their having the  right  

to retaliate4 ,since this seemed        
impracticable1 the next best  thing was 
to renounce the full liberty to do what 
one liked1 seeing  that it was attended 
by the obviously unpleasant consequence 
to oneself  of a similar liberty in     
others1 and to venture only upon those  
actions  that the law allowed4 ,society 
then was a pis aller4 ,your neighbour1  
it was true1 could not harm you1 but    
then no longer could you work  your own 
sweet will upon your neighbour4 ,men    
lived at peace with one  another1 not   
because they were naturally peaceable   
and law abiding1 but  because they      
feared the consequences of being found  
out if they were  not4 ,once that fear  
of consequences was removed1 they would 
revert to  their primitive1 natural     
wickedness4 ,let a man1 for example1    
learn how  to become invisible at will  
and1 as ,plato points out1 no virgin    
would  be safe1 no strong box unrifled4 
,man1 then1 is made moral by law2 he is 
not moral by nature4      #a ,the term  

#8acting offensively' in this connection
 is used to cover        primitive      
conduct of the kind which is supposed to
 attract wicked        and violent men1 
as1 for example1 carrying off your      
neighbour's        wife1 raping his     
daughter1 stealing his spoons1 bashing  
in or        otherwise mutilating his   
face1 and so forth4    ,now the man who 
makes the laws is in one sense like the 
man who has  learnt how to become       
invisible4 ,i do not mean that he can   
break the  laws with impunity1 but he   
can see to it that he has no incentive  
to  break them4 ,thus we have the       
majestic impartiality of the modern law 
which forbids rich and poor alike to    
sleep in doorways4 ,he can also1 as     
,thrasymachus points out1 ensure that1  
so long as others keep them1 his  own   
power will be automatically safeguarded4
 ,and1 since the law is at  once the    
prop and the mirror of the public       
opinion of the community1  and1 since   
the public opinion of the community is  

in matters of conduct  at once the      
guardian and the arbiter of conventional
 morality1 we may  further say that the 
habit of acting in a way of which the   
public  opinion of the community        
approves will be found to conduce to the
  maintenance of the status quo1 and    
hence to the interests of those  whom   
the status quo suits4    ,in the early  
eighteenth century ,bernard ,mandeville 
revived and  elaborated the doctrine of 
,thrasymachus4 ,society was devised by  
skilful politicians for their own       
advantage4 ,this they hoped chiefly  to 
secure by the spread of what was called 
morality4 ,addressing  themselves1      
therefore1 to men's pride1 they pointed 
out that man had  always considered     
himself to be superior to the brute     
beasts4 ,yet1 if  he indulged his       
passions as soon as he conceived them   
and gave way  alike to sensual desire   
and violent rage1 wherein did his       
superiority  consist8 ,surely in order  
to demonstrate their superiority men    

must  learn to master their appetites   
and restrain their passions4 ,the plain 
man listened to the words of the        
flatterer1 and1 aspiring to live  the   
higher life1 transformed himself from a 
savage into a clerk4 ,the  process is   
known as civilization4    ,tamed by his 
own conceit1 man was now fit to live in 
society4 ,as a  social animal he regards
 as virtuous every action on the part of
 others  by which the society to which  
he belongs is benefited1 and stigmatizes
  as vicious the indulgence of private  
appetites irrespective of the  public   
good4    ,but the skilful politicians   
who had planned the thing from the      
beginning had taken good care to ensure 
that the good of society  should be     
identical with their own advantage4     
,uncivilized man is  ungovernable man1  
but man tamed and tractable1 with the   
bees of social  virtue and social       
service buzzing in his citizen's bonnet1
 is at once  the prop and the dupe of   
unscrupulous governments4 8,from which01

 as  ,mandeville says1 8it is evident   
that the first rudiments of morality    
broached by skilful politicians to make 
men useful to each other as  well as    
tractable1 were chiefly contrived that  
the ambitious might reap  the more      
benefit from1 and govern vast numbers of
 them with the greater  ease and        
security40    ,to those who object that 
morality was invented by ,god and not by
  politicians1 and that the sanctions of
 right conduct are derived not  from    
social utility but from divine          
ordinance1 it should be observed  that  
,god himself is the most potent         
instrument yet devised for securing  the
 performance of conduct beneficial to   
the stronger4 ,this at least  is true of
 the great bulk of the gods who have    
figured in history4  ,on this point     
perhaps it would be best to let the     
stronger speak for  themselves4         
,napoleon may be taken as a suitable    
representative4    8,what is it10 he    
writes1 8that makes the poor man think  

it quite  natural that there are fires  
in my parlour while he is dying of cold8
  ,that ,i have ten coats in my wardrobe
 while he goes naked8 ,that at  each of 
my meals enough is served to feed his   
family for a week8 ,it is  simply       
religion which tells him that in another
 life ,i shall be only  his equal1 and  
that he actually has more chances of    
being happy there  than ,i4 ,yes1 we    
must see to it that the floors of the   
churches are open  to all1 and that it  
does not cost the poor man much to have 
prayers  said on his tomb40             
,thenceforward1 though an avowed free   
thinker1  ,napoleon set his face sternly
 against anti-,christian and            
anti-clerical  legislation4    ,the     
moral is sufficiently obvious4 ,men     
whose lives are miserable  and oppressed
 will either rise in revolt against     
their misery and  servitude1 or console 
themselves with the prospect of generous
  compensation hereafter4 ,if steps are 
taken to ensure that their faith  is    

sufficiently lively1 they will look to  
the next world to supply  them with the 
divine equivalents of the champagne and 
cigars they are  missing in this one1 an
 expectation which confers obvious      
advantages  upon those whom it enables  
to monopolize the champagne and cigars4 
,tack on the further belief that riches 
and power in this world are the  best   
guarantees of torment and anguish in the
 next1 and the utility  of religion to  
8the stronger0 is sufficiently manifest4
 ,the parable  of the needle's eye and  
the story of ,lazarus have been         
responsible  for a political and social 
quietism among the many1 which do credit
 to  the political acumen of the early  
governing class realists who slipped    
them into the text of the ,new          
,testament2 and whenever that quietism  
has  showed signs of giving1 way1 a     
religious revival or the endowment of a 
church has usually been found the most  
effective method of dealing with  the   
situation4    8,in #ahah one ,englishman

 out of seven being at that time a      
pauper1  ,parliament voted a million of 
public money for the construction of    
churches to preach submission to the    
higher powers4 ,in the debates in  the  
,house of ,lords1 ,lord ,liverpool took 
occasion to lay stress on the  social   
importance of guiding by this means the 
opinions of the masses  who were for the
 first time beginning to receive        
education40#b ,god1 it  seems1 is       
cheaper than a living wage1 and no less 
effective as a means  of securing social
 contentment4      #b ,the ,town        
,labourer1 by ,j4 ,l4 and ,barbara      
,hammond4    ,to its superior utility in
 this respect we must in part attribute 
the  success of ,christianity4 ,of all  
religions known to man it lays the      
greatest stress upon those virtues whose
 practice is advantageous to  the       
stronger4 ,it glorifies weakness and    
sentimentalizes over failure2  its      
heaven is for the submissive and the    
inefficient2 its hell for  the dominant 

and the proud4 ,just as the charitable  
worker takes the  revolutionary edge off
 poverty by distributing coal and       
blankets to  the victims of acute       
industrial distress1 so the priest      
promotes  submissiveness by inculcating 
the duties of sobriety1 meekness1       
unselfishness1 honesty1 and contentment4
 ,these virtues make good  workmen and  
prosperous employers1 and1 if they are  
only developed  to a sufficient degree1 
will enable their fortunate possessors  
cheerfully to put up with bad wages1    
long hours1 wretched houses1 and  social
 servitude4 ,the contrary virtues of    
manliness1 self-reliance  and           
independence springing from a spirit    
passionately resentful of  injustice1   
quick to resist an injury and           
idealistically determined to  make a    
better place of this world instead of   
waiting passively for the  next one1 are
 discouraged as savouring of pride and  
self-sufficiency1  and as showing a     
reprehensible tendency to look for help 

to oneself  instead of to ,god1 our     
helper in time of trouble4 ,the rich1 to
 be sure1  possess these virtues2 but   
then the message of religion is from1   
not  to1 the rich4    ,but ,thrasymachus
 has yet one more observation to make to
 us before  we leave him to turn to the 
future4 ,the penalty of law breaking on 
a  small scale is prison1 and of trivial
 wickedness1 social ostracism4  ,but    
what of law-breaking on a large scale1  
and a wickedness powerful  enough to    
flout the public opinion to which others
 succumb8 ,these are  the qualities of  
the stronger and they reap the          
stronger's reward4 ,the  rebel is the   
patriot who fails1 the patriot is the   
rebel who prevails4  ,this is the lesson
 of the past1 and those who read it may 
learn that  if only they are strong     
enough to succeed1 they need not trouble
  themselves about the respectability of
 their credentials4 ,nor has the        
position altered to-day4 ,the man who   
steals a leg of mutton goes to  prison  

for a month2 the captain of industry    
grown rich on the profits  stolen from  
his workmen gets a knighthood4 ,the man 
who has murdered  the wife who has      
annoyed him gets hanged for his pains2  
the man who  kills his fellow men for   
nourishment is denounced as a cannibal2 
but  the great general who plans the    
death of vast multitudes of his fellows 
whom he has never seen1 with whom he has
 never exchanged a cross word  and whom 
he does not require for purposes of     
sustenance1 is hailed as  the saviour of
 his country4    ,thus those who commit 
injustice1 yet have the wit or the good 
fortune  to escape the consequences of  
their actions1 climb into the seats of  
the stronger and share their immunity   
from moral restrictions4 ,since1  in the
 mere process of gratifying their       
tastes1 they are enabled to  give       
employment to large bodies of their     
fellows1 they are accounted  public     
benefactors whose wealth constitutes a  
social asset4 ,and1  should vestiges of 

the morality of the weaker1 from whose  
ranks they  have risen1 assail them in  
the form of conscience1 they discover   
that  even the gods can be squared and  
that a liberal support of deserving     
charities1 coupled with the occasional  
endowment of a church1 are  calculatedso
 they are assuredto procure for them as 
honoured a  place in the hereafter as   
their own successful injustice has      
obtained  for them in the present4      
,thus ,thrasymachus' phrase 8morality is
 the interest of the stronger0  has a   
double significance4 ,in the first      
place1 it defines the morality  of the  
many as that kind of conduct which      
promotes the interest of the  few2 in   
the second1 it assures to the successful
 few the honourable  reputation1 the    
social consideration and the good repute
 among their  fellows1 which are        
commonly supposed to be the rewards of  
morality4                               
,,chapter ,,ii                 ,,herd   
,,morality ,,and ,,the ,,new ,,tyranny  

,,of ,,thought      ,the statement of   
general principles in the preceding     
chapter was  not undertaken solely for  
the pleasure of political and ethical   
speculation4 ,my concern is a more      
practical one4 ,if the principle that   
justice is the interest of the stronger 
is the explanation of what  passes for  
morality1 what1 ,i wish to ask1 is its  
application in the  present and what is 
it likely to be in the immediate future8
    ,in order to answer these questions 
we must first consider a further  one3  
,who in a modern community is the       
stronger8    ,the fact that we are a    
democracy has not escaped notice4 ,in   
our own day  it is not kings1 nobles1   
soldiers1 prelates1 politicians1 or     
elected  persons who are the stronger1  
but the common man1 the plain man1 the  
average man1 the man in the street1     
whether city man or working man1  and   
the crowd or herd of such men4 ,he1 or  
rather his female counterpart  since she
 is more numerous even than he is1 is   

the arbiter of morality1  and the kind  
of conduct which is called moral is that
 which is  convenient or pleasing to    
her4    ,plato with his usual acumen    
foresaw the possibility of this         
development1  and was careful to provide
 for it within the bounds of            
,thrasymachus'  formula4 ,all that it is
 necessary to do if we wish to apply the
 formula  to a democracy is to invert   
it2 for #8stronger' read #8weaker'1 and 
the  formula remains unaltered4 ,the    
practicability of this inversion is     
demonstrated by one ,callicles1 in the  
,dialogue called ,gorgias4  ,most men   
are stupid1 irresolute1 apathetic1      
mediocre1 timid1 and  unimaginative4    
,the qualities implied by these         
epithets1 though  discernible at all    
times1 force themselves most pressingly 
upon the  attention when men act        
together4 ,take a sheep and stand it on 
its hind  legs and its resemblance to a 
human being is scarcely noticeable2 but 
stand a flock of sheep on their hind    

legs and1 so far as psychology and      
behaviour go1 you have a crowd of men4  
,in other words1 taken severally  men   
may be individuals2 taken together they 
are a mere transmitting  medium for herd
 emotion4 ,their individual stupidities 
are added  together1 but their          
individual wisdoms cancel out4    ,in a 
democracy1 says ,callicles1 the common  
men are the more numerous1  they also   
possess the power2 acting1 therefore1 in
 accordance with  their natures1 they   
make the laws which their natures       
demand4 ,now it is  natural for every   
man to wish to obtain as much as he can4
 ,it is also  inevitable that in a state
 of nature the stronger should obtain   
more  than the weaker4 ,hence the       
weaker1 acting in self-defence1 so frame
  the laws that the endeavour of one    
individual to obtain more than the  many
 is stigmatized as unjust4 ,hence       
justice1 or morality1 which is now      
revealed as the interest of the         
individually weaker but collectively    

stronger1 may be regarded as their      
device for depriving the stronger of    
the preponderance of good things1 which 
the strongers' superior talents  would  
naturally procure for them4    ,what we 
may call herd morality is1 therefore1 a 
form of self-defence  dictated partly by
 fear1 and partly by envy4 ,the source  
of the fear is  obvious2 the envy       
springs from the natural spite of       
inferior persons  who are conscious of  
their inferiority1 resent it1 and wish  
to take  it out of those who make them  
feel it4 8,i have not10 says the average
  man1 8the capacity of the strong man  
for acquiring a large share of  the good
 things of life4 ,therefore ,i will take
 advantage of my numbers  to lay it down
 that such acquisition is wrong and     
unjust40 ,the common  view of           
self-denial may be taken as an          
illustration4 ,the average man  has     
neither the courage nor the strength to 
satisfy his desires and  indulge his    
passions4 ,being unaccustomed to        

moderation he thinks that  if he permits
 himself any indulgence he will be      
unable to stop4 ,he dare  not bend for  
fear he break4 ,hence for the ,greek    
virtue of temperance  we get the modern 
praise of self-denial1 with a resultant 
standard of  morality which denounces   
all bodily indulgence as wrong4 ,upon   
the basis  of this standard of morality 
the principle of sour grapes proceeds to
  operate on a large scale4 ,the man who
 is not rash enough to take sexual      
pleasure when he finds it1 the woman who
 is not attractive enough to  have the  
opportunity of being rash1 combine to   
denounce the delights at  which the     
independent and the charming are not    
afraid to grasp4    ,herd morality1     
which is based on fear and envy1 is made
 effective by  blame4 ,in modern society
 the power to blame is chiefly expressed
 in two  ways4 ,first1 by the old whose 
morality consists in blaming the young2 
secondly1 by the average whose censure  
descends upon the exceptional4    ,upon 

the part played by the old in           
maintaining morality ,i do not wish  to 
dwell1 since it differs little to-day   
from what it has always been4  ,a       
mistake which all societies have made is
 to entrust the management  of their    
affairs to the old4 ,old men are        
naturally more vindictive1  bad         
tempered1 malevolent1 and narrow-minded 
than young ones4 ,they are  easily      
provoked to disapproval1 and dislike    
more things than they like4  ,having for
 the most part lived their own lives1   
they have nothing  left to do but to    
interfere in the lives of others4 ,they 
form the  governments1 misrepresent the 
people whom they oppress1 preach to the 
people whom they exploit1 and teach the 
people whom they deceive4 ,they  mete   
out rewards and punishments1 sentence   
criminals to death1 direct  businesses1 
make laws which they have no temptation 
to disobey and wars  in which they do   
not propose to fight4 ,if the country   
were handed over  exclusively to the    

governance of men under thirty-five1 and
 everybody  over that age were forbidden
 to interfere on pain of being sent to  
the  lethal chamber1 it would be a      
happier and a better place4             
,unfortunately  the young men are too   
busy trying to make a living in the     
subordinate  positions to which the old 
men grudgingly admit them to have the   
time  or energy to interfere with other 
people4 ,besides1 being young1 they     
wish to live1 a process for which the   
regulation of the lives of others  is a 
poor substitute4    ,in the sphere of   
morality the function of the old is     
confined to  discovering methods of     
deterring the young from pleasures of   
which they  themselves are no longer    
capable4 ,old men give young men good   
advice1  no longer being able to give   
them bad examples1 and old women invent 
a symbolic ,mrs4 ,grundy to intimidate  
their daughters into resisting  the     
temptations which now pass them by4 ,the
 deterrent influences so  exercised are 

called morality under which name they   
impose on the young  who will not have  
caught their elders lying often enough  
to disbelieve  them1 until they have    
begun to produce sons and daughters of  
their  own1 by which time they will be  
only too ready to abet the prevailing   
hypocrisy4    ,the other strand in the  
fabric of modern morality has already   
been  noticed as the tendency of the    
weaker to get even with the stronger  by
 taking it out of him on moral grounds4 
,morals1 it is thought1  are everybody's
 privilege and everybody's possession4  
,few of us can  understand ,einstein's  
theory of relativity1 but we all know   
the  difference between right and wrong4
 ,hence the man who is deficient in     
talent can make up for it in virtue1 and
 by assuring himself that ,god's        
noblest work is an honest man1 put      
brains and capacity in their proper     
place4    ,since the motives which have 
prompted its invention persist          
unchanged1  morality1 which has always  

been the special emanation of the herd1 
varies little in spite of superficial   
differences from age to age1  whilst    
intellectuality throws off new lights in
 every age4 ,there is  probably very    
little difference between the crowds of 
ancient ,babylon  and modern ,clapham1  
but the mind of ,einstein differs in    
radical  particulars from that of       
,archimedes4    ,realizing that any fool
 can be good intellectuals have always  
made  light of morality for the same    
reasons as those which have caused the  
herd to set store by it4 ,if the herd   
has been ready to censure the           
eccentrics1 the eccentrics have been    
even readier to provide materials  for  
censure4 ,despising the mob1 they flout 
their standards and laugh  at their     
scruples4 ,the good are so harsh to the 
clever1 the clever  so rude to the good1
 that one might almost be tempted to    
believe in  a fundamental antipathy     
between virtue and brains4 ,whether this
 be  so or not1 it seems probable that  

there is a permanent necessity in  our  
natures requiring us to exalt the common
 qualities we share and  understand1 and
 to condemn rare gifts4 ,thus morality  
represents the  average man's attempt to
 console himself in the face of the     
insulting  superiority of the few1 by   
proving that the superiority is achieved
  only at the cost of loss of virtue4   
,certainly we must take it out of  these
 fellows somehow6 ,it tortures our      
self-respect to admire those who  have  
qualities we cannot possess4 ,that is   
why we love to think of the  philosopher
 as an absent-minded fool1 incapable of 
feeding himself1  writing cheques or    
catching trains1 and listen so greedily 
to the  legends of vice and             
voluptuousness in men of genius4        
,wickedness in high places is so much   
more appetizing than wickedness  in low2
 it enables us to prove that those who  
are inconsiderate enough  to rise above 
us in place and power1 only do so at the
 cost of falling  below us in simplicity

 and virtue4 ,the public lips have      
recently been  smacking over the details
 of a case in which it was alleged that 
a wife  endeavoured to advance the      
career of her husband by a liaison with 
the  ,quarter ,master ,general of ,h4,m4
 ,forces4 ,it was further alleged that  
the  husband condoned and even          
encouraged her conduct4 ,the ,quarter   
,master  ,general was a man of marked   
ability4 ,his organizing and            
administrative  capacity were justly    
famous2 he was1 in fact1 one of the few 
brilliant  successes of the ,war4 ,when 
the rumour spread that this man1 one of 
the most powerful as well as the ablest 
in the land1 had been willing  to       
advance a subordinate because he desired
 his wife1 the outburst of  public      
indignation in the press was tremendous4
 ,wickedness in high  places was a      
glorious theme3 there had been nothing  
like it since the  ,armistice4 ,labour  
bodies met to insist on the superior    
purity of the  lives of working-people1 

and parsons thundered in their pulpits  
against  the luxury of the rich4 ,for   
several weeks the ,dennistoun case was  
the  chief subject of conversation in   
trains1 'buses1 and bar-parlours1 and   
those whose lips smacked the most       
greedily over the luscious scandal  were
 the most severe in their condemnation  
of the vices of society4    ,why was it 
that this case attracted so much        
attention8 ,why was the  wickedness     
involved considered so shocking8 ,why   
did those who would  not have looked    
twice at the six-line paragraph         
describing a similar  occurrence in the 
remoter suburbs1 follow every detail of 
the case with  the most avid curiosity8 
,because the woman was unusually        
beautiful1 the  man unusually powerful  
and talented4 ,the beauty of the woman  
aroused  the envy of other women2 the   
power and talents of the man excited the
  envy of other men4    ,we all of us   
have an impulse to blame those whom life
 has more  generously gifted or more    

fortunately bestowed than ourselves4 ,we
 make  a virtue of our deficiencies1    
argue that only the dull and lowly are  
good1 and call the feeling of envy which
 we experience for those who  are       
neither dull nor lowly moral            
indignation4    ,in addition to the envy
 of the old for the young and of the    
herd for  the exceptional1 the impulse  
to blame1 which men call morality1 owns 
another source4 ,this is the desire for 
uniformity4 ,the desire for  uniformity 
springs in its turn from the fear of    
insecurity4 ,society1  said             
,schopenhauer1 is like a collection of  
hedgehogs driven together  for the sake 
of warmth4 ,the object of social        
observances is to put felt  upon the    
spikes in order that the proximity of   
the hedgehogs may not  cause them to    
injure one another4 ,the risk of        
friction will be reduced  to a minimum  
if all the hedgehogs behave in the same 
way4 ,identical  behaviour in all       
circumstances is1 no doubt1 an          

unattainable ideal2 but  this makes it  
doubly important that the herd as a     
whole should know  within limits in what
 way each of its members will behave4   
,those who  react unexpectedly to       
familiar situations1 or differ markedly 
in their  conduct from others are a     
danger to the herd1 causing social      
friction  and a sense of insecurity4    
,for this reason reformers like ,christ 
or  ,ibsen1 who violently question the  
standards of thought and conduct        
prevalent in their herd1 and refuse to  
conform to them1 are regarded  with     
bitter hostility4    ,the method by     
which the herd secures the uniformity of
 conduct upon  which its comfort and    
security depend is the exercise of      
social  approval and disapproval4 ,in   
extreme cases this method is forcibly   
employed4 ,the soldier who shows a      
tendency to run away under the  enemy's 
fire endangers the safety of his        
fellows4 ,steps are accordingly  taken  
to check this tendency by the pressure  

of social disapproval in  the form of   
discipline4 ,discipline is a device for 
substituting the  certainty of being    
shot for those who do not go over the   
top for the  probability of being shot  
for those who do4 ,the result is that   
most  soldiers go over the top4 ,this is
 conduct conducive to the safety  of the
 herd1 and is rewarded with social      
approval under the name of  courage4    
,more usually social approval and       
disapproval find expression in the      
sphere of manners and modes4 ,in ,japan 
under the old laws the term for  a rude 
man is 8other-than-expected fellow01 and
 a noble is not to  be interfered with  
in cutting down a fellow who has behaved
 to him  in a manner other than is      
expected4 ,in general1 thought or       
conduct  calculated to surprise or      
disturb the herd incurs disapproval and 
is  called immoral2 thought and conduct 
which mirrors the beliefs and  habits of
 the herd is regarded with approval and 
is called moral4  ,thus virtue is the   

habit of acting in a manner of which    
other people  approve2 vice in a manner 
of which they disapprove4    ,summing   
up1 therefore1 we may say that social   
morality in a democracy  springs from   
the envy of the average man for the     
talents of the able  man which cause him
 to feel inferior1 and from the dislike 
of the herd  for the conduct of the     
eccentric which makes it feel unsafe4   
,these are general principles and are   
more or less applicable in any  state of
 society which is not a tyranny or a    
close oligarchy4 ,what ,i  wish to      
emphasize is their special application  
to a modern western  democracy4    ,in a
 community of this type the herd is at  
once more congested and  more powerful  
than it has been in any other period of 
history4 ,its  congestion causes it to  
place a hitherto unparalleled emphasis  
upon  the necessity for felting the     
spikes of the hedgehogs1 that is to     
say1 upon the importance of uniformity2 
its power enables it to vent  its       

disapproval upon those who offend its   
prejudices with the maximum  effect4    
,this can be seen most clearly in the   
case of ,america which has  produced the
 most congested#c and the most powerful 
herd on record4  ,america is a melting  
pot in which all the races of the earth 
are fused4  ,the natural diversity of   
its elements produces a special need for
  artificial uniformity in its citizens4
 ,a civilization with its roots in  the 
earth can allow its members to spread   
outwards1 like the branches  of a tree2 
a civilization1 whose seeds are planted 
in shallow soil1  must hedge them about 
lest they be scattered by the wind4 ,the
 first is  centrifugal3 it can tolerate 
individuality because it has a centre4  
,the  second is centripetal3 it must    
enforce uniformity because it has none4 
#c ,the word #8congested' is used to    
denote the oppression of spiritual      
stuffiness rather than of physical      
overcrowding4    ,for this reason all   
,american citizens strive to be exactly 

like each  other1 and1 on the whole1    
they succeed4 ,they have the same       
clothes1  they live in the same houses1 
they have the same social habits1 the   
same respect for money and the same     
suspicion of such superfluous           
eccentricities as thought1 culture1 and 
art4    ,a friend of mine1 who had      
wintered in a ,southern ,state1 as the  
season  advanced discarded his felt hat 
for the regulation straw4 ,a few weeks  
later he had occasion to travel         
northwards to ,new ,york4 ,as he left   
the  train he noticed that he was an    
object of attention to people on the    
platform4 ,porters and loungers stared1 
and as he walked away from the  station1
 he found himself followed by a small   
and apparently hostile  crowd4 ,hailing 
a taxi1 he drove to his hotel4 ,in the  
porch he met an  acquaintance1 told him 
of the notice he had attracted1 and     
asked the  reason4 ,his friend explained
 the matter by pointing to his straw    
hat4  ,it was too early in ,new ,york   

for the change over into straws1 he     
said1  and of course one could not dress
 differently from other people4    ,the 
rigid enforcement of uniformity is      
hostile not only to freedom of  action  
but also to independence of thought4    
,the laws against teaching  or holding  
doctrines displeasing to the majority   
are particularly  severe in ,america4   
,immigrants1 for example1 are not       
allowed to land in  ,america until they 
have first expressed their disbelief in 
,communism1  atheism1 and free love4    
,many people are put in prison for      
holding  unpopular views1 although these
 views do no apparent harm to anybody4  
,advocacy of birth-control1 possession  
of irreverent and disreputable  books   
such as ,jurgen1 expression of          
subversive opinions with regard  to the 
relationship of capital and labour1 and 
disbelief in ,god are  among the        
offences so punished4    ,not only is it
 necessary not to profess unpopular     
viewsit is  sometimes necessary to      

profess popular ones4 ,in order to      
placate herd  opinion it is found       
necessary to enforce by law the         
propagation  of deliberate falsehood4   
,this happens especially in those cases1
  unfortunately only too numerous1 in   
which the truth is less gratifying  to  
human conceit than we could wish1 so    
that its adoption involves  the         
abandonment of cherished beliefs4 ,such1
 for instance1 is the  belief that man  
is a degenerate angel1 which is thought 
to be more  flattering than the truth   
that he is a promoted ape4 ,thus the    
,state  of ,tennessee has recently      
officially repudiated the 8monkey       
ancestry0  of its citizens4 ,a law has  
been passed under which it is illegal   
for  any teacher in a university or     
other public school to teach anything   
denying the story of creation given in  
the ,bible1 or that man has  descended  
from the lower order of animals1 and men
 have already been  imprisoned for      
teaching evolution4 ,it is not1 so far  

as ,i know1  maintained even in ,america
 that the doctrine of evolution is      
untrue4  ,it is sufficient that it      
incurs the disapproval of the stronger4 
,thus truth herself is liable to be     
stigmatized as immoral if she is        
inconsiderate enough to flout the wishes
 of respectable citizens4    ,where     
individuality is to a large extent      
obliterated1 and citizens are  cut      
according to approved specification by  
the social machine1 nothing  is so much 
valued as personality4 ,i have said that
 every ,american  wishes to be like     
every other ,american1 and so he doesbut
 with a  difference4 ,he wants to have a
 personality of his own4 ,he wishes to  
have a something about him that will    
convey an impression of uniqueness  and 
cause him to be talked about among his  
fellows4 ,nothing is so much  discussed 
in ,america as personality4 ,men try to 
cultivate it as they  try to cultivate  
biceps2 agencies exist in order to tell 
you how to be  unique1 and              

psycho-analysts flourish by the simple  
process of telling  you that you are    
unique4    ,but this is just what the   
conditions upon which herd morality     
depends  will not let you be4 ,depart   
one hair's-breadth from the standard    
habits  of thought and accepted codes of
 conduct1 and the herd will make your   
existence intolerable until you consent 
to toe the line4    ,now the drift of   
,british development follows            
increasingly the course  set by         
,america4 ,america is our most advanced 
nation in morals as in  everything else1
 and1 if we want to know what ,england  
will be like  to-morrow1 we cannot do   
better than look at ,america to-day4    
,america is  at once a signpost and a   
stimulus4 ,what ,american business men  
are1 that  do our business men strive   
humbly to be4 ,they ape their           
magnificence1  and enjoy a large and    
increasing share of this power4 ,the    
stockbroker's  conception of the good   
life is becoming increasingly accepted  

by the  clerk1 the clerk's by the       
shopkeeper1 the shopkeeper's by the     
workman1  so that the community as a    
whole is doing its best to live up to   
the  standard which its business men    
set4 ,so soon as we have got rid of the 
last vestiges of our dying aristocracy1 
such as respect for hunting and  a      
semi-feudal tenantry1 we shall subside  
into an inferior and imitative          
satellite of the ,states4    ,the       
objects of ,american civilization are to
 substitute cleanliness for  beauty1    
mechanism for men1 and hypocrisy for    
morals4 ,it devotes so  much energy to  
obtaining the means to make life        
possible1 that it has  none left to     
practise the art of living4 ,hot baths  
and more hot baths1  larger and ever    
larger hotels1 faster and ever faster   
cars1 golf played  by ever fatter and   
more vulgar men1 and lap-dogs kept by   
ever fatter  and more vulgar women1     
cocktails and culture1 psycho-analysis  
and faith  healing1 sensual poetry and  

sensational sport1 supported and        
maintained  by an illiterate governing  
class ready to be imposed upon by any   
quack or charlatan who can persuade it  
to take an interest in what it  imagines
 to be its soul1 such is the probable   
development of bourgeois  civilization  
in ,england4    ,hints of the growing   
adhesion of the herd to the ideals and  
pursuits  of big business are not wanted
 in current developments of moral       
sentiment4 ,as the profiteer supplants  
the aristocrat as the dominant  force in
 the community1 a slight twist is given 
to the moral opinions  of the herd as a 
whole in order that they may be brought 
into line with  the changed interests of
 the stronger4 ,moral sentiments        
suitable to the  interests of a         
hereditary aristocracy of landed        
proprietors insensibly  give place to a 
morality designed to protect and        
safeguard the pursuits  of the fat man  
on holiday4    ,an example of this      
process is afforded by the changed      

attitude to  hunting4 ,a hundred years  
ago hunting was considered an entirely  
honourable pursuit1 appropriate to      
gentlemen and advantageous to the       
countryside4 ,to-day it is attacked on  
humanitarian grounds and voices  are    
raised in favour of the fox4 ,if he must
 be killed why not humanely8  ,it was   
recently reported that a fox chased by  
the ,cowdray hounds jumped  through the 
window of a private residence and up the
 chimney flue4  ,efforts were made to   
smoke him out by lighting a fire        
immediately  below1 for all the world as
 if he were a boy chimney brush of a    
century  ago instead of a fox1 but they 
were unsuccessful4 ,ultimately workmen  
removed some bricks and the fox was got 
out and given to the hounds4  ,this case
 caused an outcry on the ground that the
 fox1 who had given  the hounds a good  
run1 was the victim of cruel and        
unsporting conduct4  ,a similar outburst
 was provoked by a hunted stag who      
recently took  refuge in the ,channel1  

and was picked up and carried to        
,france4    ,that hunting is now        
condemned by the moral sense of the     
community not  because of any increase  
in humanitarian sentiment1 but because  
of a  change in the interests of the    
predominant herd1 is shown by the apathy
  of public opinion with regard to the  
victims of the gun and the motor4       
,business men unable to hunt because of 
the obesity produced by their  habits   
are not debarred from shooting4 ,moors  
are hired in ,scotland  and all         
creatures liable to interfere with the  
supply of game are  ruthlessly          
exterminated4 ,thus a squirrel-catching 
society has recently  been formed in    
,aberdeenshire4 ,rewards are offered for
 each squirrel  captured1 and it is     
estimated that between two and three    
thousand  squirrels are killed a year4  
,at ,monte ,carlo business-men sit on   
terraces and shoot down pigeons which   
have been previously imprisoned  in     
darkened boxes1 with the result that1   

when they are let out into  the         
sunlight1 they are too dazed to fly     
away4 ,before they are placed  in the   
boxes the tails of these birds are      
removed4 ,this impedes their  flight and
 makes things easier for the            
business-men1 who kill between  sixty   
and a hundred an hour4 ,but it is not   
thought1 except by cranks1  that the    
business-men are immoral for amusing    
themselves in this way1  although it is 
illegal in ,england for boys to steal   
the eggs of many  kinds of birds4    ,in
 the south of ,england1 where the roads 
are tarred to facilitate the  passage of
 motors and the approach of business-men
 is heralded over  the countryside by a 
stink of tar and petrol1 it is reported 
that the  emanations from the roads have
 poisoned the waters of the ,test and   
,itchen and caused the death of many of 
the living things that dwell in  them4  
,even the fish1 it seems1 have begun to 
feel the march of progress4    ,motors  
are frequently the cause of the death to

 hens1 puppies1 cats1  and small        
children4 ,yet nobody thinks the        
business man's pursuit of  motoring     
immoral4 ,on the contrary1 it is assumed
 without question that  the road is his 
property1 and that the pedestrian should
 make way for  him1 while the risk to   
life and damage to limb consequent upon 
his  refusal to do so are regarded as   
the results of culpable folly and       
negligence on the part not of the       
motorist but of himself4                
,business-men are given to amassing     
property1 but not to making friends4    
,it is not in personal relationships    
that they seek the good life1 but  in a 
plenitude of goods4 ,for this reason    
current herd morality visits  offences  
against property with greater severity  
than offences against  the person4 ,a   
man will get six months for stealing a  
diamond necklace1  but only six days for
 beating his wife4 ,but1 though the ill 
treatment  of a wife by her husband is  
punished with comparative lightness1    

her appropriation by another man is     
considered to be the height of          
wickedness4 ,this is because the man who
 makes love to his neighbour's  wife is 
committing an offence against property4 
,for the same reason the  desire on the 
part of a wife to secede from her       
existing possessor and  to be an        
independent entity maintaining herself  
by her own exertions is  regarded with  
disfavour4#d ,it is as if a valuable    
house were to insist  that it should    
remain uninhabited4      #d ,cp4 the    
success of ,a4 ,s4 ,m4 ,hutchinson's    
,this ,freedom4    ,those who belong to 
a herd are in general unable to         
understand the wish  of others to escape
 from it4 ,such a wish is an implied    
criticism upon  the herd conception1 and
 brings a sense of insecurity4 ,thus the
 desire  for leisure and solitude1 or   
for a life amid wild surroundings1 is   
regarded with instinctive disapproval4  
,a ,frenchman recently exploring  in    
,brazil came upon a party of ,indians   

one of whom had a paler skin  than the  
others4 ,the pale skinned ,indian turned
 out to be his long-lost  brother1 who  
had lived among the ,indians for a      
number of years4 ,the  explorer         
immediately set to work to persuade his 
brother to return  with him to          
civilization4 ,his efforts1 however1    
proved unavailing4  ,the brother asked  
why he should return to a community in  
which he had  to pay taxes1 wear clothes
 and do other disagreeable things1 when 
he could live with the ,indians in a    
state of nature without labour  of any  
kind4 ,the explorer had no answer to    
these questions4 ,he was  unable to     
understand this refusal to return to the
 herd and accept the  restrictions that 
existence in the herd involves4         
,accordingly he told  his brother that  
he was a hopeless degenerate1 and left  
him to what he  characteristically      
called his fate4    ,something of the   
same feeling is entertained by the      
average man towards  the artist or the  

writer4 ,he distrusts the contempt of   
herd standards  which his irregular life
 implies4 ,this sentiment is reinforced 
by a  feeling of insecurity in regard to
 possessions4 ,the average man is too   
busy to spare time for sexual           
immorality1 and instinctively suspects  
the life of the artist or writer because
 of the facilities which it  accords for
 meddling with his wife during office   
hours4 ,the general  nature of the      
objection entertained by the herd to    
sexual immorality  will be examined more
 fully in the next chapter4    ,before  
,i close this chapter ,i wish to point  
out how the sentiments ,i  have         
endeavoured to describe have been       
intensified by the decay of  religion4  
,communities in which the average man is
 the stronger have always been  noted   
for their ,puritanism and high moral    
standard4 ,promiscuity has  historically
 been practised by the aristocracy      
rather than by the  middle classes1 and 
in societies in which the standard is   

set by the  latter is visited           
accordingly with a disproportionate     
amount of moral  obloquy4 ,severer steps
 would no doubt have been taken against 
it1  had it not been for the conviction 
that the sinner would be punished       
hereafter4 ,the poor man1 lacking the   
rich man's goods1 has comforted  himself
 with the story of ,lazarus4 ,but the   
moral man has found equal  consolation  
when denying himself the pleasures of   
the flesh1 in  picturing the eternal    
torments which awaited those who refused
 to be  bound by his inhibitions4       
,the average moralist has accordingly   
refrained from punishing the  successful
 libertine1 knowing that ,god would do  
it for him4 ,but this  conviction is no 
longer held4 ,god is a much more        
mysterious being than  he used to be1   
and we have less knowledge of his ways4 
,it may be that  he does not exist at   
all1 and in any event the belief that he
 will do  this or that1 and1 in         
particular1 that he will entertain the  

same moral  views as we do ourselves1 is
 no longer entertained with its old time
  certainty4 8,vengeance is mine1 saith 
the ,lord2 ,i will repay40 ,perhaps  it 
is1 but it might be visited on the wrong
 people4 ,in any event it is  safer to  
take no chances1 and to make sure that  
sinners shall suffer  in this world the 
punishment which the eccentricity of    
,god's views may  permit them to forego 
in the next4 ,for this reason it is to  
be expected  that the herd morality of  
the future will develop a severer       
outlook  upon derelictions from the     
standards of behaviour which it regards 
as moral4 ,what these derelictions are1 
and what are the reasons for  supposing 
that in spite of this attitude they are 
likely to increase1 ,i  will consider in
 the next chapter4                      
,,chapter ,,iii                         
,,the ,,new ,,liberty ,,of ,,action     
,important forces are1 however1 at work 
in the contrary direction4  ,if the     
growing prevalence of herd morality will

 tend to place a new  emphasis on the   
importance of uniformity1 uniformity in 
the moral  sphere is likely to prove    
more difficult of attainment4    ,two   
factors in particular will militate     
against it4 ,these are the  growth of   
economic independence among women1 and  
the practice of birth  control4 ,let us 
consider these factors separately4      
,i4 ,the basis of the institution of    
marriage is economic4 ,theological      
factors have of course played their     
part4 ,the early ,christian fathers1    
expecting the immediate end of the      
world1 saw no reason to take steps  to  
ensure the continuance of the race4 ,the
 ,christian hostility to the  pleasures 
of the senses was1 therefore1 allowed to
 rage unchecked1 and  sexual intercourse
 was denounced as both wicked and       
unnecessary4 ,as  time passed1 however1 
it was found that the world showed no   
signs of  coming to an end1 an          
inconsiderateness which led to the      
necessity for  a change of attitude4    

,the ,church met the situation with a   
complete  volte face4 ,it had previously
 stigmatized the sexual passions as so  
wicked that no ,christian should be     
permitted to indulge them3 it now       
pronounced them to be so sacred that no 
,christian should be permitted  to      
indulge them without the sanction of the
 ,church4 ,the sanction of  the ,church 
was given in marriage1 a device whereby 
the ,fathers sought  to control and to  
regulate the workings of a passion they 
were unable  to ignore4 ,since then the 
,church has claimed both the ability and
 the  right to sanctify sex1 and has    
looked with disfavour upon marriages    
consummated by the ,state as an         
infringement of her monopoly4    ,but   
the fact that marriage has been         
instituted by ,god and cornered by  the 
,church is not sufficient to account for
 its existence before the  ,christian   
epoch or its stability since4 ,these    
rest upon an economic  foundation4      
,throughout the recorded history of     

civilization the only recognized  way   
for a woman to make her living has been 
through her body4 ,her  body being her  
one saleable asset1 she could employ it 
in either of  two ways4 ,she could sell 
the use of it to one man for an         
indefinite  period1 or she could lease  
it to a number of men for short and     
strictly  regulated periods4 ,the first 
method is known as marriage2 the second 
as prostitution4 ,the existence of these
 two1 and of only these two1  ways of   
gaining an economic livelihood has led  
to the formation of  two unofficial     
women's ,trade ,unions1 the ,trade      
,union of wives and the  ,trade ,union  
of prostitutes4 ,the strength of these  
unions is directly  proportional to     
their monopoly of the economic field1   
and far exceeds  that of any recognized 
,union in the more strictly industrial  
sphere4    ,it is immediately obvious   
that any woman who was prepared to give 
for  love or for nothing what other     
women were only prepared to give for    

maintenance was a blackleg of the most  
subversive type1 and the whole  force of
 organized female opinion has1          
therefore1 been devoted to  making her  
position impossible4 ,the force of      
female opinion so directed  is known as 
morality1 and the bitterness with which 
the free lover1  that is to say1 the    
woman who loves outside the marriage tie
 or the  prostitute's preserves1 is     
denounced as immoral1 is due to woman's 
unconscious recognition of the fact that
 she is cutting at the basis of  the    
economic livelihood of her sex4    ,it  
is of course true that the two women's  
,unions are to some extent  competitive1
 and that the existence of the          
prostitute threatens the  security of   
the wife while it guarantees the        
chastity of the young  girl4 ,for this  
reason there is and always will be      
hostility between  the ,unions4 ,the    
wife's first commandment is the ,deity's
 8,thou shalt  have none other woman but
 me01 and she is accordingly accustomed 

to  regard the prostitute with horror1  
whereas she does not object to the      
existence of other wives1 since this    
does not1 at least in theory1  threaten 
her own4 ,for this reason1 too1 the     
method of earning a living  adopted by  
the wife is generally preferred to that 
adopted by the  prostitute1 and is      
esteemed the more honourable by public  
opinion4  ,so true is this that in most 
women the belief in the honourableness  
of wifehood has become second nature1   
the really nice woman feeling           
instinctively that the only decent way  
for her to live is on the  earnings of  
some man4 ,but while this feeling       
provokes hostility to  members of the   
other ,union1 it is a hostility which   
cannot compare  in bitterness with the  
scorn and hatred felt for the free      
lover4 ,the  reason for this is obvious4
 ,the number of women a man can have for
  money is limited by the extent of his 
income2 the number of women he  can have
 for nothing is limited only by the     

extent of his ability to  find them4    
,for this reason it is felt             
instinctively that the free lover  is a 
greater menace to society than the      
prostitute4 ,the prostitute1  indeed1 is
 and always has been recognized as a    
social necessity4 ,she  guarantees the  
chastity of nice women by providing a   
necessary solace  for men up to the     
comparatively late age at which modern  
economic  conditions allow them to      
marry4 ,thus in ,tsarist ,russia the    
brothel was  a ,state-recognized        
institution4 ,the new brothel was       
formally opened  by the police officer1 
and was hallowed by a religious ceremony
 in  the course of which the premises   
were blessed by a ,russian ,orthodox    
priest4#e      #e ,report of ,labour    
,delegation1 #aibe4    ,sexual morality 
in men springs from the same economic   
source1 but is  more limited in scope   
and less fiercely embraced4 ,this is a  
natural  deduction from what has just   
been said4 ,if the livelihood of women  

is bound up with the strict observance  
of the marriage tie1 the  maintenance of
 the moral restrictions upon which      
marriage as an  institution depends is  
their special concern4 ,in a purely     
promiscuous  community the livelihood of
 women would be intolerably insecure4   
,hence  women are the natural guardians 
of morality1 knowing that it guarantees 
their bread and butter4 ,it is not too  
much to say that morality as a  going   
concern is kept up by women4 ,men on the
 whole1 despite their  strong property  
sense1 are not interested in moral      
questions4 ,they  have not the woman's  
delight in nosing out scandals1 and1    
except when  they are whipped up into a 
state of moral horror by their women    
folk1  are much too prone to live and   
let live4 ,the attitude of deliberate   
uncharitableness towards erring sisters 
which the sex affects does  not come    
naturally to men1 and left to           
themselves1 they would condone  offences
 which their outraged spouses insist on 

punishing with social  ostracism4    ,it
 is on the whole true to say that the   
moral sense1 so far as sex is           
concerned1 only begins to function in   
men after marriage and1 except  in the  
case of one's own daughter whose        
saleable value in the marriage  market  
is thought to be diminished by          
inchastity1 it centres upon the  wife4  
,since the wife is in origin a piece of 
property purchased by the  husband for  
his own enjoyment1 to her must be       
extended the jealous  guardianship which
 presides over property in general4 ,the
 wife is the  most valuable of a man's  
indoor possessions2 in return for the   
use of  her body he has agreed to       
maintain her in such dignity and leisure
 as  he can afford4 ,this obligation to 
maintain the wife is a permanent one    
persisting even after the enjoyment of  
her person has ceased4 ,thus  when a    
wife divorces or lives apart from her   
husband1 he is usually  required to     
maintain her1 so long as she remains    

chaste4 ,so soon1  however1 as she      
bestows the enjoyment of her person upon
 another1 the  obligation to maintenance
 ceases1 presumably on the ground that  
the  new consumer should be saddled with
 the obligation of keeping up what  he  
enjoys4 ,in nothing is the property     
basis of marriage more clearly          
discernible than in the #8dum casta'    
clause of the ,english divorce law4     
,it is upon the same economic basis that
 the husband's objection to  infidelity 
chiefly rests4 ,if another man is       
permitted to enjoy for  nothing what he 
himself has purchased at a heavy outlay1
 the husband  naturally feels aggrieved4
 ,he is also rendered ridiculous4 ,it is
 for  this reason that the cuckold is   
always presented in literature as a     
comic figure2 he is in the position of a
 man who is unconsciously  having his   
pocket picked4 ,the husband's           
predilection for fidelity  in the wife  
is thus as strong as the wife's demand  
for fidelity in  the husbandat times it 

is even strongerand springs from the    
same  economic source4 ,so long as the  
wife is in essence a piece of property1 
it is naturally felt that only the man  
who has paid for her should  have the   
use of her2 so long as a woman can only 
obtain her living by  selling herself to
 a man1 she not unnaturally demands that
 others  should not be allowed to       
undercut her4    ,we have spoken of this
 situation as if it existed in the      
present2 but  it is already in many     
respects an affair of the past4 ,the    
history of  the last fifty years has    
recorded the growing and continuous     
influx  of women into wage-earning      
employment which bears no relationship  
to sex4 ,women cure the sick1 plead in  
the law courts1 teach in the  schools1  
do manual labour in garden1 field1      
factory1 and workshop1 and  serve       
increasingly as clerks1 typists and shop
 assistants4 ,three were  recently found
 among the five hundred applicants for  
the post of public  executioner in      

,hungary4    ,men have not unnaturally  
resented this change4 ,the dependence of
  women has on the whole suited them1   
and they do not like to see those  whose
 economic helplessness has made them a  
natural prey to male  predatoriness     
rendered capable of standing on their   
own feet4 ,having  deliberately deprived
 women of the skill1 the training1 the  
knowledge1  and the qualifications      
necessary to make their way in the      
world1 men  have then proceeded to      
justify themselves by proving the moral 
and  intellectual inferiority of women  
from the fact that she is ignorant1     
unskilled and uneducated4 ,when it is   
remembered that the same causes  that   
have left woman no alternative but      
concubinage 7married or  unmarried7 or  
starvation1 have compelled her1 as often
 as not1 to  perform the duties of an   
unpaid housekeeper1 it is not difficult 
to  see how much man was the gainer by  
the transaction4 ,but1 unfortunately    
for him1 he has been unable to stem the 

rising tide of feminism4 ,it  has long  
ceased to be true that a woman's only   
means of earning her  living is by      
exploiting her sex-attraction1 and all  
the evidence  points to the fact that   
the number of women in wage-earning     
employment  will be augmented in the    
future4 ,this estimate leaves out of    
account  the probability of the         
endowment of motherhood1 which will     
place all  mothers1 whether married or  
unmarried1 in the category of           
independent  wage-earners4    ,the      
effect of this economic change upon the 
situation ,i have briefly  sketched1 and
 upon the moral sentiments to which it  
gives rise is  likely to be twofold4    
,in the first place the unmarried woman 
will tend increasingly to form          
temporary1 irregular unions4 ,this      
result will follow3    7#a7 ,because her
 knowledge that she can earn her living 
in other ways  will not force her to    
demand from the man a pledge of         
life-long  maintenance as the price of  

her love4    7#b7 ,because knowing that 
she is not dependent upon a man for her 
livelihood1 she will no longer have the 
incentive to pander to the  man's demand
 for virginity in his prospective wife  
by remaining chaste  until marriage4    
7#c7 ,because a man's abandonment of the
 connection which she has formed  with  
him1 a process commonly known as        
desertion1 will not as heretofore  leave
 her stranded without means of support4 
7#d7 ,because men will be less chary of 
forming temporary1 sexual  relationships
 with women1 when they know that they   
are not expected to  keep them4    ,in  
the second place the married woman will 
tend to mitigate her  hostility to      
irregular unions formed by unmarried    
women when she  realizes3    7#a7 ,that 
her husband's mistress1 not being       
dependent upon him for  support1 will   
constitute a less formidable threat to  
her livelihood4    7#b7 ,that the       
possible transference of her husband's  
affections  and consequent withdrawal of

 financial support will not leave her   
necessarily incapable of finding other  
employment4    7#c7 ,that1 as the       
clear-cut line of demarcation between   
married and  unmarried unions becomes   
obscured by the increase in the number  
of the  latter1 it will no longer be    
either possible or necessary to put the 
unmarried mistress as completely beyond 
the pale of decent society as  has been 
customary in the past4    ,from the     
above considerations it will be seen    
that the growing  economic independence 
of women is likely1 unless counteracted 
by other  forces1 to lead to a          
relaxation of the marriage tie1 to an   
increase in  irregular unions1 and to a 
growing tendency to dispense with       
marriage  altogether4    ,but1 some     
critics will object1 what about the     
children8 ,hitherto1  ,i have left the  
children outside the scope of the       
argument1 and it  is high time to bring 
them in4 ,this leads me to a            
consideration of  the second of the two 

factors which ,i cited at the beginning 
of the  chapter1 the practice of        
birth-control4      ,,ii4 ,that the     
practice of birth-control is likely to  
increase there can1  ,i think1 be no    
reasonable doubt4 ,i am aware that there
 is considerable  opposition to         
birth-control at the moment1 and the    
various arguments  are brought forward  
to discourage people from employing its 
methods4  ,these arguments are not held 
on rational grounds1 but are dictated   
by prejudices based on certain religious
 or political opinions which  those who 
put them forward profess4 ,it is said1  
for example1 that  birth-control is     
displeasing to the ,almighty1 who       
invented sexual  intercourse for the    
reproduction not of pleasure but of     
children2 and  it is thought1 though not
 said1 that it is injurious to the      
,state  because it will diminish the    
supply of cannon-fodder and cheap       
labour4    ,as regards the ,almighty1   
whether he would agree with the views   

put  forward by those who speak in his  
name is not known4 ,until1 therefore1   
we can obtain a direct expression of his
 opinion on the matter1 it  is more     
prudent to assume that his attitude is  
non-committal1 than  to supply the place
 of knowledge by converting our         
conjectures into  dogmas4 ,as regards   
the supply of cannon-fodder1 this is    
supposed to be  important for           
consumption in future wars4 ,since1     
however1 those who  oppose birth-control
 on the ground that it will diminish the
 number of  recruits1 also hold that    
wars are inevitable owing to the        
pressure of  expanding populations1 it  
would seem that populations which cease 
to  expand have no need to maintain     
large armies to protect them from the   
results of expansion4    ,the position  
of those who oppose birth-control being 
based on political  and religious       
feelings of an emotional character is   
not1 however1  refutable by argument1 or
 assailable by reason4 ,our business is 

not to  reply to arguments which have no
 rational basis1 but to estimate what   
influence they are likely to have in the
 future4    ,there is1 ,i think1 little 
doubt that this influence will be a     
diminishing one4 ,much of the opposition
 to birth-control is little  more than  
an expression of the generalized feeling
 of hostility which  people experience  
in regard to anything that is new4      
,whether it be  a new morality1 a new   
sonata form1 a new way of wearing the   
hair1 a  new kind of corset 7or none at 
all71 or a new saviour of mankind with  
which he is presented1 man's natural and
 instinctive reaction is one  of        
antagonism4 ,the antagonism is provoked 
not by any intrinsic demerit  in the    
thing that arouses itindeed in fifty or 
a hundred years time  it is embraced    
with acclamation as the last word in    
orthodoxy or good  formbut simply by its
 newness4 ,the suggestion that any way  
of life1  of thought or of conduct can  
be better than that which they have     

hitherto followed wounds people's       
self-respect1 and some time must  elapse
 before they can overlook the offence4  
,this kind of objection applies in a    
marked degree to birth-control  which   
challenges people's most intimate       
habits1 and seems likely to  effect a   
revolution in their conduct4 ,it will1  
however1 diminish as  the idea of       
birth-control becomes familiar4 ,the    
reaction of the normal  ,englishman to  
that which is new usually passes through
 three phases4  ,he says first 8,it is  
absurd01 second 8,it is contrary to     
,scripture01 and  third 8,of course6 ,i 
knew it all the time04 ,it will be seen 
that the  opposition to birth-control   
has already passed into the second      
phase4    ,there is a further reason for
 the probable weakening of the          
anti-birth-control movement4 ,the       
organized opposition to birth-control   
comes very largely from members of the  
upper and middle classes4 ,these  on an 
average have very much smaller families 

than the lower classes in  whose        
interests they profess to oppose        
birth-control1 and to whom they         
denounce it4 ,the inevitable inference  
from this fact cannot continue          
indefinitely to remain undrawn1 and1 as 
soon as it is drawn1 the  lower classes 
will be able to gauge the sincerity of  
those who exhort  them to choose between
 continence or children1 while being    
themselves  remarkable for neither4     
,finally the knowledge of the use of    
contraceptives is bound in course  of   
time to percolate through every social  
stratum4 ,the advantages of             
birth-control to the individual are so  
obvious that few will refuse to  avail  
themselves of the knowledge which the   
,state1 in the persons of  the medical  
officers in charge of infant welfare    
centres1 at present  withholds2 while   
the disadvantages to the community of a 
system under  which the lower strata    
proliferate unchecked1 while the upper  
and  middle classes barely keep up their

 numbers1 and the exceptional man  who  
has the talent and energy to climb from 
one stratum into another  finds it      
necessary to sterilize himself in the   
process1 will1 in the  shape of a       
rapidly deteriorating population1 force 
themselves upon the  notice of even the 
most pious4    ,birth-control has come  
to stay2 it has also knocked the bottom 
out of  what is called sexual morality4 
,if the views put forward in the        
previous chapters be correct1 if        
morality is the interest of the         
stronger1 and if1 where the stronger  is
 the herd of average individuals1 it    
expresses itself in disapproval  of     
conduct from which the average1 for     
whatever reason1 shrink1  then the      
driving force of morality is to be      
looked for not in any  innate sanction  
but in the power which the herd possess 
of rendering  intolerable the lives of  
those who flout its prejudices4 ,but in 
order  that the herd may be able to     
exercise this power1 it must be in a    

position to detect the objects of its   
censure4 ,this has been possible  in the
 past owing to the unfortunate          
propensity of sexual irregularity  to   
result in offspring4 ,it is not easy to 
disguise the existence of a  child1 and1
 even if the desperate course of        
overlaying or otherwise  extinguishing  
it be adopted1 the disposal of the      
corpse presents grave  difficulties4    
,such a course is also open to the      
objection of doing  grave violence to   
the humaner parental instincts4 ,but    
birth-control  precludes the necessity  
for children1 and by so doing makes it  
possible  to 8sin0 without being found  
out4    ,it is not to be expected that  
people will refuse to avail themselves  
of the liberty thereby conferred4       
,whether we are to infer that people    
are by nature sinful1 or simply that a  
sin which has been manufactured  by herd
 morality is not really a sin1 is a     
question that does not  immediately     
concern us4 ,what does concern us is the

 impetus which this  ability to avoid   
detection is likely to give to irregular
 intercourse4  ,birth-control combined  
with economic independence has brought a
 new  freedom to women4 ,economic       
independence enables them to have       
children  without going either to the   
altar or into the workhouse4 ,the       
practice  of birth-control makes it     
unnecessary even to have the children4  
,one further result of birth-control may
 be noticed before we pass on4  ,this is
 the probable abolition of the double   
standard of morality for  men and women 
after marriage4 ,that adultery in a wife
 has always been  considered to be more 
serious than adultery in the husband the
 state  of the law bears witness4       
,adultery in a wife is a sufficient     
cause for  divorce1 in a husband it#f   
must be coupled with cruelty or         
desertion4  ,this disparity of treatment
 has always caused grave offence to     
feminist  organizations4 ,yet the reason
 for the difference is not far to seek4 

,it  arises from the economic dependence
 of the wife upon the husband4 ,as  the 
result of this dependence any children  
which the wife may acquire  in the      
course of her adventures become a charge
 upon the husband1 who  is thus required
 to pay for the fruits of his own shame 
and another's  enjoyment4 ,it is true   
that he is1 or ought to be1 similarly   
responsible  for the upkeep of the      
offspring which may result from his own 
adultery1  but in this case he has at   
least had his pleasure and sinned his   
sin1  and cannot in justice complain if 
his substance is consumed by its        
fruits4 ,where1 however1 adultery on the
 part of the wife does not carry  with  
it a risk of children to be maintained  
by the husband1 it becomes  an offence  
neither more nor less serious than      
adultery on the part of  the husband1   
and the double standard ceases          
accordingly to operate4      #f ,in     
,july1 #aibc1 the law was amended and   
adultery in the husband        became a 

sufficient ground of divorce4    ,as a  
result of the above-mentioned           
considerations we may expect that  the  
practice of birth-control will          
profoundly modify our sexual habits4    
,it will enable the pleasures of sex to 
be tasted without its penalties1  and it
 will remove the most formidable        
deterrent to irregular  intercourse4    
,it is this consideration which lies at 
the root of the opposition to           
birth-control4 ,deep down in most of us 
there lurks something of the old        
,puritanical attitude1 which insists    
that pleasure cannot or should not  be  
had without paying for it4 ,this at     
least is true of pleasures we do  not   
share4 ,and it is this sentiment which  
is outraged by the immunity  from the   
consequences of sexual pleasure which   
birth-control confers4  ,the ,puritans  
objected to bear baiting not so much    
because of the pain  which it gave to   
the bear1 as because of the pleasure    
which it gave  to the spectators4 ,in   

the same way the great mass of decent   
middle  class citizens object to        
birth-control not because of the evil   
which  it does to the race1 but because 
of the pleasure which it gives to  those
 who practice it4 ,the ,puritans are up 
in arms2 the dowagers1 the  aunts1 the  
old maids1 the parsons1 the town        
councillors1 the clerks1  the members of
 ,vigilance ,committees and ,purity     
,leagues1 all those who  are themselves 
too old to enjoy sex1 too unattractive  
to obtain what  they would wish to      
enjoy1 or too respectable to prefer     
enjoyment to  respectabilityin a word1  
the makers of public opinionare outraged
  in their deepest feelings by the      
prospect of shameless1 harmless and     
unlimited pleasure which birth-control  
offers to the young4 ,and if they  can  
stop it it will be stopped4    ,hence   
concurrently with the increased freedom 
which economic  independence and        
birth-control will give to young people1
 and to young  women in particular1     

there is likely to be a growth in       
restrictive and  purely inhibitory      
morality on the part of the middle-aged4
    ,we are in1 then1 for a wave of     
,puritanism on the one hand combined    
with  the possibility of a new liberty  
of action on the other4 ,what will be   
the outcome8                            
,,chapter ,,iv                          
,,the ,,coming ,,clash      ,before ,i  
endeavour to answer the question with   
which ,i concluded the  last chapter1   
there are one or two additional         
considerations to which  it is necessary
 to refer1 since they must affect our   
estimate of the  future4    ,i have     
spoken of the possibility of a new      
freedom for women due to  birth-control 
and economic independence4 ,other       
factors are likely  to make such freedom
 more imperative on social grounds and  
less  intimidating on moral ones4       
,the first is the great and growing     
preponderance of women in the           
community4 ,it is estimated that in     

,great ,britain there are already two   
million more women than men1 and the    
figures can no doubt be paralleled  from
 other ,western ,european countries4    
,our present moral code condemns  these 
two million1 and as many more as the    
number of bachelors  involves1 to       
perpetual celibacy and sterility4 ,in   
other words one woman  out of every ten 
is expected to deny herself the right to
 motherhood or  to become an outcast    
from decent society4    ,this system is 
intolerable2 it is manifestly breaking  
down in many  directions1 and it        
continues at all only because public    
opinion among  women is still too       
unorganized to protest against it4 ,it  
is already  the subject of wholesale    
disregard and infringement in practice1 
and  it will be abolished in theory as  
soon as the social sense of the         
community has progressed to the point of
 removing the stigma from  illegitimacy 
and the reproach from unmarried         
motherhood4 ,in other words  the system 

is bound up with the man-made convention
 which insists that  the right to have a
 child shall be saddled with the duty of
 looking  after a man1 and1 since there 
are not enough men to go round1 women   
will sooner or later be forced in       
self-defence to permit themselves to    
have children without husbands4    ,so  
far as the right to sexual experience1  
independently of the right of           
motherhood1 is concerned1 this is       
already safeguarded by birth-control4   
,the growing surplus of women will tend1
 therefore1 through the  sheer pressure 
of virginity1 to promote an increase in 
irregular  relationships1 and to        
reinforce the movement towards freedom  
already  described4    ,nor will        
religious considerations deter with     
their traditional force4  ,i have       
already spoken of the decline of        
religious sentiment in  connection with 
the growth of moral rigour in the herd4 
,lacking the  conviction that ,god will 
punish wrong-doers1 they arrogate the   

right  to themselves4 ,but the same     
scepticism which lights the fires of the
  heresy-hunters encourages the         
wickedness of the heretics4 ,if         
marriages  were not made by ,god1 and   
torment in hell is probably not the     
result  of adultery1 there is no longer 
reason to think that five minutes'      
bliss must be paid for in terms of      
eternal damnation4 ,it is1 no doubt1    
true1 that ,god still loves the pure1   
but when earthly lovers are  available1 
the price of ,god's love may be not     
worth the paying4 ,hence  the religious 
argument1 though doubtless it will      
operate as a brake  in a diminishing    
number of cases1 will no longer act as a
 wholesale  deterrent4    ,a more       
serious consideration is put forward in 
the name of biology4  8,you are10 the   
biologist will point out1 8conducting   
your argument on  the basis of certain  
assumptions with regard to the nature of
 women1  since you predict an increase  
in sexual irregularity not only among   

men1 but also1 and inevitably1 among    
women4 ,men1 it is agreed1 are          
regrettably promiscuous1 in the sense   
that1 even if they are monogamous  in   
fact1 they are varietist by inclination4
 ,but women are different4  ,their      
nature is not varietist but monogamous1 
and it will1 in spite of  all changes of
 material circumstances and moral       
sentiments1 remain so4  ,for this reason
 irregular sexual unions will not       
increase in the manner  you predict40   
,biological arguments of this type1     
derived from the alleged nature  of     
women1 are in my view mere man-made     
superstitions4 ,the particular  argument
 in question was invented by the peccant
 male who wished to  convince himself   
that1 however flagrant his own          
infidelities1 his wife  would remain    
faithful because it was her nature4 ,the
 superstition was  also useful1 because 
it implied that1 although a life of     
unvarying  fidelity might do violence to
 his natural proclivities1 he need      

suffer  no qualm of conscience in       
expecting and exacting conduct which he 
repudiated for himself from his         
monogamous wife4 ,the notion too was    
flattering and appealed readily to male 
conceit4    ,now as to the existence of 
the facts asserted by my imaginary      
biologist1 there is1 ,i imagine1 little 
doubt4 ,there are1 of course1  countless
 exceptions either way1 but the general 
tendency is not  obscure4 ,while the    
cases of ,my ,lord and the barmaid are  
legion1 those  of ,my ,lady and the     
groom are notoriously few4 ,but         
admitting the fact1  are we to regard it
 as necessarily unalterable8 ,many1 ,i  
know1 are  inclined to do so4           
,contemplating the domestic tragedies   
springing from  the nomadic tendencies  
of the male1 they have seen in them one 
more  piece of evidence for the         
satirical plan on which they believe the
  ,universe to have been constructed4   
,if indeed there be design in the       
scheme of things1 to what sort of design

 do the facts point8 ,to have  made man 
polygamous and woman monogamous they    
regard as ,god's worst  practical joke1 
and conclude that1 whatever may have    
been the objects  and disposition of the
 creator of the ,universe1 they were    
certainly not  those of a gentleman4    
,but is the fact really unalterable8    
,may it not be the outcome of  centuries
 of servitude and seclusion1 made       
absolute by the knowledge  that fidelity
 meant bread and butter and a home1     
infidelity starvation  or the streets8  
,since the beginnings of recorded       
history the great  bulk of women have1  
it is true1 remained monogamous1 but    
they may have  done so from fear of     
losing their jobs as wives if they did  
not4 ,those  who have been rich enough  
to stand upon their own financial feet1 
or  powerful enough to snap their       
fingers at public opinion1 have not been
  remarkable for strict observance of   
the marriage tie4 ,the cases of         
,messalina1 ,catherine the ,great and   

the modern film star1 not to mention  a 
score of less notorious instances1 are  
instructive4 ,significant too  is the   
frequency of divorce among those who are
 sufficiently well to  do to afford the 
enormous fees exacted by the legal      
profession from  those who wish to      
change their partners4 ,it is difficult1
 in the face  of evidence of this kind1 
to avoid the conclusion that the        
monogamous  tendencies of women are the 
product of training1 circumstance1 and  
environment1 and will not outlast the   
economic disabilities which  produced   
them4    ,in any event the present      
existence of these tendencies1 if       
tendencies  they be1 affords no         
indication of what they may become in   
the future4  ,the fact that the         
primitive savage could only count on the
 fingers  of one hand does not          
invalidate the existence of the         
multiplication  table1 any more than the
 fact that most women want only one man 
each  now proves that they will not want

 more in a hundred years4 ,the use of   
the word #8natural' begs the question4  
,we acquire those characteristics  which
 our circumstances and environment      
demand1 and then transmit them  to our  
children in whom1 being inherited1 they 
are termed natural4  ,but this does not 
mean that our children will not in due  
course  develop new characteristics of  
their own1 if a change of circumstances 
renders the old ones undesirable4 ,there
 are signs indeed that the new          
characteristics are already beginning to
 appear4 ,the attitude of               
representative up-to-date women on this 
subject is curious4 ,they tend  to deny 
the difference between males and females
 which my imaginary  biologist alleged1 
and to declare that their inclinations  
are naturally  as promiscuous as those  
of their husbands4 ,the circumstance    
that they  control them better argues1  
they assert1 more sense2 it does not    
imply  a difference in nature4          
,remarks of this kind are often made by 

women who1 nevertheless1  live exemplary
 lives and would scorn to revenge       
themselves upon an  unfaithful husband  
by imitating his conduct4 ,nevertheless 
there is no  reason to suppose that they
 deliberately misrepresent their        
feelings1  and we can only conclude     
that1 as usually happens1 a new tendency
 is  manifesting itself in feeling some 
time before it is translated into       
action4    ,for these reasons ,i do not 
think that any convincing arguments as  
to  the future can be based on the      
alleged monogamousness of women in the  
present4 ,nor1 so soon as the force of  
the monogamous habit wanes1 do ,i  think
 that women will consent to put up with 
the manifest disadvantages  of a system 
which is based upon the assumption that 
it is as strong  as it ever was4 ,it is 
certain that they will not be deterred  
by the  protests of outraged males4     
,conventional morality1 as ,i have      
already  pointed out1 like many of our  
other institutions such as matines1     

concerts and ,god1 is kept going by     
women1 and directly women withdraw      
their support1 not all the opposition of
 men will avail to save it4    ,what    
then is likely to happen8    ,certainly 
not a relapse into complete promiscuity4
 ,the belief that  people are           
fundamentally licentious1 and that a    
partial removal of  the barriers with   
which society has hedged about the      
business of  reproduction will          
precipitate the population into a welter
 of unbridled  license1 pleasantly      
shocking though it is to the minds of   
respectable  people1 has absolutely no  
foundation in fact4    ,this belief     
springs from the doctrine of original   
sin1 which has always  been popular     
among quiet and well-behaved persons4   
,if man is by nature  wicked and sinful1
 and woman is very little better1 then1 
indeed1  contraception and the economic 
independence of women will lead to an   
orgy of sex indulgence in which the     
population will shuffle itself like  a  

pack of cards4    ,nothing of the kind  
is likely to happen4    ,the purely     
sexual elements in love have come to    
occupy an entirely  disproportionate    
amount of attention owing to the taboos 
with which  they have been invested4    
,once these taboos are removed1 they    
will  revert to their natural position  
of comparative unimportance4 ,if it     
were permissible to reproduce the sexual
 act upon the stage we should  all lose 
our interest in chorus girls' legs4     
,moreover1 playwrights  would not       
trouble to avail themselves of the      
permission4    ,within reason1          
continence and constancy are natural to 
human beings4 ,it  is only the          
intolerable strain to which our absurd  
social arrangements  have subjected them
 that has caused us to regard ourselves 
as being by  nature unfaithful and      
incontinent4 ,there is no ground for the
 belief  that the average man or woman  
who allow themselves to be guided by    
their own impulses must needs be        

scoundrels4 ,for among their impulses   
must be numbered self-respect1          
moderation1 and a sense of what is right
  and fitting4 ,because this sense may  
be1 and often is1 at variance with  the 
herd morality which is crystallized in  
the law1 it does not mean  that it does 
not exist4 ,on the contrary1 it may be  
in advance of the  morality it disowns1 
so that people thrown helpless on their 
passions  may find that honesty1 that   
self-respect1 that hatred of cowardice  
and deceit1 and the desire for          
cleanliness1 health1 and efficiency     
were master passions disciplining them  
far more effectively than the           
artificial inhibitions of a mediaeval   
morality based on an obsolete  religion 
and deriving its power from lethargy and
 fear4    ,some changes in social       
arrangements there will no doubt be4 ,in
 ,russia1  for example1 where the       
knowledge of birth-control is accessible
 to  all classes1 where any two parties 
by agreement1 or either of the  two     

parties by request1 may obtain a        
divorce1 and where no stigma is  placed 
upon illegitimacy1 there has been a     
considerable relaxation of  the family  
system4#g ,if this means1 as it probably
 does1 that unhappy  families have      
broken up and that husbands and wives   
who disliked each  other have availed   
themselves of the opportunity to make a 
fresh start1  we need not regret the    
change4 ,nobody would contend that      
society  is the gainer by condemning the
 unhappily married to a lifetime of     
domestic misery1 and it is difficult to 
see why the common sense of  the        
community which considers the wishes of 
the parties concerned a  sufficient     
ground for consummating their marriage  
does not regard the  wishes of the same 
parties as a sufficient reason for      
terminating it4      #g ,report of      
,labour ,delegation1 #aibe4 ,it is      
interesting to note        that this    
relaxation has taken place concurrently 
with a marked        decrease in        

prostitution4    ,on the other hand it  
is unlikely that those who are happily  
married  will rush to the ,registrar    
with the object of making themselves    
miserable by separating1 simply because 
reasonable divorce laws give  them the  
opportunity to do so4 ,it would be an   
interesting experiment1  and one which  
would enable us to estimate the extent  
of marital  unhappiness1 to proclaim a  
day of conjugal amnesty at recurring    
intervals4 ,we might1 for example1      
celebrate the coronation of every  new  
king by giving to all married couples   
the right to dissolve  their marriages1 
and seek other mates4 ,if advantage were
 not taken  of the facilities offered   
within twenty-four hours1 there would be
 a  compulsory reversion to the status  
quo ante4 ,or it might be better  to fix
 definite periods between the days of   
amnesty1 so that they  would recur at   
regular intervals4 ,each general        
election might serve  as a signal for a 
conjugal ,general ,post1 so that couples

 would have  the chance of gaining their
 freedom every five years4 ,i myself    
would  advocate the institution of such 
amnesties1 although ,i believe that the 
amount of conjugal dislocation they     
would cause would be surprisingly       
small4 ,it is difficult to avoid feeling
 sentimental at the prospect of  parting
 even from those whom we dislike1 and   
the fact that couples were  no longer   
bound in law would only tighten the     
bonds of sentiment4 ,a  would feel that1
 unpleasant as ,b had been1 he could not
 very well let  her down1 and ,b would  
shrink from leaving ,a with no one to   
look after  him1 even when she had      
herself looked after him very badly4    
,you cannot1  in short1 live with any   
one for a number of years without       
dreading the  prospect of their loss4   
,the knowledge1 moreover1 that          
quinquennial  escape was possible might 
lead to married people treating their   
partners with at least the degree of    
civility they at present reserve  for   

their acquaintances4 ,i do not think1   
therefore1 that the changes  caused by a
 conjugal amnesty would be very         
extensive4    ,for the above reasons ,i 
conclude that the social results of the 
changes  ,i have been describing will   
amount to little more than a diminution 
in the number of unhappy marriages1 and 
an increase in the number of            
experimental unions4    ,but it is not  
to be supposed that the herd will see   
the matter in  this light4 ,nothing     
exceeds the license taken by the        
imaginations of  very rigid people1 and 
there is little doubt that the vast mass
 of  respectable citizens1 appalled and 
horrified by what they will insist  on  
regarding as the prospect of growing and
 unlimited license1 will  rise to meet  
the situation with panic and            
persecution4 ,and since1 for  the       
reasons already given1 morality in a    
modern community is that  kind of       
conduct which suits the stronger1 we may
 expect a revival of  ,puritanism       

expressing itself in a new robustness   
and acerbity in the  moral sense of the 
herd4    ,symptoms of this revival are  
not wanting in this country4 ,if1       
however1  we wish to see the clearest   
portents of what is coming we must1 as  
,i  have hinted above1 look to ,america4
 ,america1 as ,i have already pointed   
out1 leads the world in morals as in    
everything else4 ,that ,american        
citizens set great store by morality is 
notorious4 ,with their constant  ,purity
 ,crusades1 ,puritan pogroms1 ,vigilance
 ,committees1 and popular  juries of    
selected citizens1 who visit            
surreptitiously and report  upon the    
moral tone of ,new ,york plays1 they put
 our more decadent  civilization to     
shame4 ,on what sort of lines do these  
engines of  ,american morality take     
action8 ,one instance must suffice4 ,in 
,april of  this year1 one ,miss ,jewell 
,barker went bicycling in white         
knickers4  ,her outraged neighbours     
showed their sense of this vicious act  

by  proceeding to seize and flog ,miss  
,barker's father4 ,this is at once to   
usurp and to invert the divine privilege
 of visiting the sins of the  fathers   
upon the children4    ,america is1 of   
course1 pre-eminently the ,land of      
,liberty1 and we cannot  hope to emulate
 her highest feats4 ,efforts are1       
however1 not wanting  of our endeavours 
to live up to the standard our cousins  
set4    ,i will quote at random one or  
two ,american examples with their       
,british  parallels4    ,america4 ,there
 is sumptuary legislation designed to   
check the license  of the stage4 8,there
 is01 we are told1 8a rule in some      
,american towns  that the chorus girls  
must wear stockings1 although the       
principals are  allowed to appear with  
bare legs04    ,england4 ,in recent     
months there has been a strong          
provincial movement  against the        
indecency and unpleasantness of the     
plays produced in  ,london4 ,respectable
 citizens complain that they never can  

tell what  salacious beastliness may not
 be sprung upon their protesting eyes   
and  ears1 what searchlight cast upon   
the ,augan stables of high society4     
,actors and actresses have expressed    
their views1 pointing out that  a pure  
stage is as good a paying proposition as
 a nasty one1 and  invoking the case of 
the ,gilbert and ,sullivan operas to    
bear witness  to the truth of their     
contention4 ,these operas1 a notorious  
commercial  success1 have never been    
known to bring a blush to the most      
bourgeois  cheek4 ,a number of ,london  
women have accordingly banded themselves
  together vowing to purify the stage4  
,protests are to be made nightly  in    
theatres at which plays to which        
objection is taken are performed4  8,we 
shall stick at nothing10 said the leader
 of the campaign1 8to make  our protest 
effective04    ,concurrently with this  
development there has arisen a demand   
for a  stricter censorship4 ,i think it 
probable that we are on the threshold   

of a period resembling the early        
seventeenth or middle nineteenth        
centuries1 when life as it is will be   
driven off the stage by the  ,puritans' 
demand for life as it ought to be1 love 
will give place to  sentiment1 and      
reality to romance4    ,america4 ,a new 
teetotal version of the ,bible is       
promised from  ,america4 ,the festive   
passages are all dry1 the words #8raisin
 cake'  taking the place of the word    
#8wine' wherever the latter occurs in   
the  ,authorized ,version4 ,thus we have
 8,and he dealt to everyone of ,israel1 
both men and women1 to everyone a roll  
of bread1 a portion of meat and  a cake 
of raisin04    ,scotland4 ,steps were   
taken in the spring of this year to     
transfer to  ,scotland a film depicting 
the explorations of ,livingstone4 ,an   
extract  from the daily paper tells us  
that 8,prohibitionists there are already
  strenuously objecting to the incident 
which shows ,livingstone1 after  he has 
been found by ,stanley1 drinking        

champagne with his rescuer6  ,the       
difficulty is that the incident is      
historically correct 444 and  the       
problem is whether truth should be      
suppressed in the interests of          
morality4 #8,at any rate' said the      
,secretary of the ,london ,missionary   
,society #8the raising of the question  
is evidence of the progress made  since 
his time4'0 ,it can scarcely be doubted 
that if the meeting had  taken place    
to-day1 ,livingstone would have         
acknowledged the march of  progress by  
drinking water4    ,a straw shows the   
direction of the wind1 and ,i should not
 be at all  surprised to see ,scotland  
go dry in the next fifty years1         
especially if  she is successful in     
obtaining ,home ,rule4 ,if ,scotland    
goes dry1 it is  not to be expected that
 ,england will fail ultimately to follow
 suit4  ,the increase in efficiency     
among dry workmen is very great1 and if 
the business men remain 8the stronger0  
in the community1 they cannot  continue 

indefinitely to be blind to its         
advantages1 especially as they          
themselves would be immune from the     
hardships it entails4 ,if we ask        
whether an officially dry but           
unofficially wet business class1 and a  
working class which is dry both         
officially and unofficially1 does not   
mean one law for the rich and another   
for the poor1 our answer is that        
conventional morals always does mean    
this4#h      #h ,cp4 the case of the    
legs of the chorus and the principals1  
p4 #gj4    ,the practice of virtue1 we  
are often told1 is dependent upon the   
possession of a sufficient income4 ,it  
is only the well to do who can  afford  
to be generous1 honest1 and unselfish1  
because they have no  temptation to be  
otherwise4 ,but what is true of virtue  
is equally true  of vice1 and the       
experience of the working of prohibition
 in ,america  shows how easy it is for  
the rich to procure illicit indulgences 
which  are out of the reach of the poor4

    ,there is likely to be legislation  
against wantonness in dress4 ,by        
wantonness is meant the practice among  
females of unnecessarily  exposing parts
 of their body4 ,the curious belief that
 the body is in  some way disgraceful1  
and that the exhibition of it is1       
therefore1  wicked is very prevalent    
among ,western peoples4 ,it arises      
partly  from natural prudery1 partly    
from the property view of marriage1  and
 partly from the inclemency of the      
climate which makes bathing a           
comparative rarity4 ,the ,japanese who  
have a bath twice a day1 observe  no    
discrimination between the sexes in     
their bathing4 8,one day01 said  the    
,marquis of ,x who had just returned    
from ,japan1 8my wife went to  have a   
bath1 and she got as far as the rinsing 
stage when two young  ,japanese came in4
 ,she had to take refuge in the tank1   
screaming at the  top of her voice until
 the two young men were taken away4     
,they no  doubt thought her a very      

fastidious young woman04    ,the        
conviction that the body is wicked and  
ought to be concealed is  important1    
because it leads women to expose        
portions of it which they  would        
otherwise protect1 and rightly protect1 
from the rigours of the  atmosphere1 in 
the belief that they are making         
themselves attractive4  ,thus women     
swathed in layers of furs in respect of 
the rest of their  persons1 will venture
 forth on the coldest day with bare     
bosoms and  open-work stockings4 ,it is 
with the same object that1 though their 
religion bids them mortify the flesh and
 refrain from making of  themselves a   
stumbling block to others1 they will    
appear at dinner  with necks1 bosoms1   
backs1 and arms completely naked1 a     
proceeding not  only acquiesced in but  
encouraged by their males4 ,this sort of
 thing  is anathema to the herd1 who    
cannot afford the evening dress and the 
furs1 and to the old1 the condition of  
whose bodies does not1 except  in the   

case of the incurably optimistic1 permit
 them to take the same  liberties as    
their daughters4 ,hence we may expect a 
considerable  stiffening of public      
opinion in the matter of decorum in     
dress and a  return to the days in which
 everything except the hands and the    
face  was carefully covered up4    ,in  
the sphere of what is called sexual     
morality we may expect a growing        
tendency to make wickedness 7that is to 
say conduct which is not in the         
interests of the stronger7 punishable by
 law4 ,attempts will be made1  and      
successfully made1 to multiply crimes by
 ,act of ,parliament4    ,a good example
 of this tendency will be found in the  
,bill entitled  ,the ,children1 ,young  
,persons1 etc41 ,bill1 introduced by a  
,labour  ,member during the tenure of   
office by the ,labour ,government in    
#aibd4  ,it represents bourgeois or herd
 morality 8in excelsis40 ,it is known as
  the ,offences against the ,person     
,bill1 and its object is to codify  and 

extend the existing enactments against  
abortion1 cruelty to  children1 offences
 against children1 and neglect of       
children4 ,many of  its provisions are  
admirable and afford what is no doubt a 
necessary  protection to children       
against suffering and neglect4          
,nevertheless it  menaces individual    
liberty in two ways4 ,in the first place
 it increases  the number of offences   
punishable by law1 often in an arbitrary
 manner4  ,for example1 it is made a    
crime punishable by two years hard      
labour for  a girl of sixteen to have   
intercourse with a young man of         
eighteen1 the  criminal being not1 as   
one might have expected1 the elder of   
the two  parties concerned1 but the     
girl4 ,she alone is liable to           
imprisonment2  the young man is allowed 
to go free4 ,it is also a criminal      
offence to  conceal the birth of a dead 
child1 to cause or encourage a child to 
beg1 or to celebrate the marriage of a  
boy and a girl under sixteen1  such     

marriages being declared invalid4    ,in
 the second place the ,bill authorizes  
grave interference with  personal       
privacy4 ,the officers and inspectors   
charged with executing  its multifarious
 provisions are given unlimited powers  
of search1  and authorized in certain   
cases to arrest without warrant4 ,even  
if  a bill of this kind were to be      
administered by angels or sages1 the    
opportunities for espionage and         
surveillance which it bestows would  be 
sufficiently offensive4 ,since1 however1
 its provisions will in  fact be        
enforced by inspectors and constables   
drawn from the lower  middle classes1   
who will be only too willing to denounce
 as flagrant  immorality whatever       
transcends the experience of ,clapham1  
the measure  stands revealed as an      
attempt to endow the herd with increased
 powers  of interference and control    
over the private lives of those who     
venture  to stand outside it4           
,encouragement would also be given to   

malevolent and offensive persons  who   
wished to do harm to their neighbours by
 laying information against  them4 ,in  
general1 liberty would be diminished1   
offences multiplied1  and the individual
 rendered more subservient to public    
opinion than is  the case to-day4       
,another expression of herd feeling will
 be a growing tendency to  enquire into 
the private lives of those who hold     
public appointments4  ,the herd1 that is
 to say1 will increasingly demand of    
those who fill  positions of eminence   
and authority in the land that they     
shall  conform in practice1 and profess 
to conform in belief1 to the code of    
prejudices and preferences which it     
pretentiously calls its morals4  ,even  
to-day1 at the end of half a century of 
individualist thinking1  fitness to     
perform a particular job is one of the  
least important  qualifications in a    
candidate4 ,what is important is that he
 shall  be a member of a recognized     
religious sect1 such as the ,church of  

,england or one of the sub-sects of     
,nonconformity1 that he shall  live with
 one wife1 avoid divorcing and being    
divorced1 and display  studiously       
temperate habits4 ,he must also exercise
 discretion in his  public utterances1  
be judiciously but not violently        
patriotic in his  sentiments1 eschew    
extreme views in politics1 refrain from 
supporting  unpopular causes1 and on all
 occasions give the herd the answers it 
expects4 ,thus in ,wales it is difficult
 if not impossible for a man to  hold   
any public appointment unless he is a   
member of a particular  chapel1 and at  
,english ,universities many teaching    
posts are reserved  for those in ,holy  
,orders4 ,given the capacity for        
reflecting the  opinions and flattering 
the prejudices of the many1 men of      
acknowledged  incompetence may          
successfully aspire to the most         
responsible posts4  ,there is indeed no 
post in the country a man cannot hold   
with credit1  if he can only succeed in 

holding his tongue4    ,conformity      
rather than intelligence is more        
particularly required of  those who seek
 to instruct the young4 ,a man's ability
 to demonstrate  the differential       
calculus or impart the facts of history 
would not1 it  is true1 appear to be    
lessened by his having passed through   
the divorce  court4 ,yet there is no    
doubt that such an event will cast a    
blight upon  his career as a teacher4   
,people are too satisfied with their own
 ways  of thought and habits of conduct 
to wish for their children anything     
better than that they should think and  
act as they do themselves4 ,what  is    
demanded of the teacher1 therefore1 is  
that he should transmit to  the children
 the same beliefs as those which are    
held by their parents4  ,he must hold up
 to their admiration those things which 
their parents  consider to be admirable1
 such as ,god1 vaccination1 monogamy1   
the  ,treaty of ,versailles and the     
capitalist system1 and speak with scorn 

and contempt of ,bolshevism1 atheism1   
,germany1 free love and agitators1  whom
 parents consider to be evil4 ,when the 
teacher does this he is what  is called 
a safe man4 ,he inspires confidence and 
obtains preferment4  ,provided1 in      
short1 that he guarantees not to teach  
anything new1 his  capacity to teach    
anything at all is not seriously        
questioned4 ,and1  since the best minds 
of every generation1 being in advance of
 their  time1 would prefer not to teach 
at all rather than to perpetuate the    
dogmas in which they have ceased to     
believe1 the successful teacher is  not 
always remarkable for intelligence4     
,in any event1 whether intelligent or   
not1 he must conform1 and will  have to 
do so increasingly4 ,the herd morality  
which drove a statesman  of the calibre 
of ,dilke out of public life because it 
disapproved  of his private life1 is1   
after a temporary relapse1 increasing in
  strength1 and in the immediate future 
nobody who does not profess the         

morality to which the middle classes    
adhere will stand any chance of  public 
office4 ,if a man's actions belie his   
professions he must be  careful to      
conceal them4    ,one of the results of 
this development will be an increase in 
hypocrisy4 ,to-day the agnostic don at  
,oxford worships regularly in  the      
,college ,chapel1 and men will be driven
 increasingly to give  lip-service to   
ideals and shibboleths which in their   
hearts they  despise4 ,in general1 the  
gulf which separates public profession  
and  private practice1 a gulf which has 
made ,england a byword for hypocrisy1   
will grow wider4 ,driven to profess the 
beliefs of shopkeepers1 men will  rely  
increasingly upon their private judgment
 as a sanction for their  conduct4      
,hence the attempt to impose a uniform  
standard based upon an  obsolete        
morality upon our public men may lead to
 a revival of that  unfashionable organ 
the private conscience1 and those from  
whom an  unwilling conformity is exacted

 in public1 will insist that they and   
they alone are the judges of what is    
right and wrong in private4    ,i have  
taken the ,offences against the ,person 
,bill as a typical  instance of the kind
 of legislation in which the new        
,puritanism may  express itself4 ,it    
indicates a return to the ,greek        
conception that men  can be made good by
 ,act of ,parliament4 ,in the late      
nineteenth and early  twentieth         
centuries this conception was regarded  
with disfavour4 ,as the  result of the  
individualist thinking of the preceding 
fifty years1 the  idea that there was   
one good life which all men ought to    
lead had been  abandoned4 ,the          
individualist view was that there were  
different kinds  of good lives for      
different men1 as many in fact as there 
were men to  live them1 and that it was1
 therefore1 impracticable to establish  
by  law a positive standard of ethical  
conduct to which all must conform4  ,in 
so far as law had any function in the   

matter1 it was1 by prohibiting  violence
 and the cruder forms of robbery1 to    
guarantee to the community  a certain   
background of order without which no    
good life was possible4  ,since the mere
 process of obeying the law did not make
 a man a good  man but only restrained  
him from certain unappetizing kinds of  
vice  by which no decent upper or middle
 class citizen was attracted1 it        
followed that the function of the law   
was negative merely2 its object  was to 
prevent citizens from so conducting     
themselves that nobody could  be        
virtuous1 not to define virtue or to    
tell men how to attain it4 ,the         
definition of virtue was a matter for   
the individual's insight1 and  the      
attainment of virtue a matter for the   
individual's conscience2  provided1     
therefore1 that a man abstained from the
 grosser forms of  anti-social conduct  
which were prohibited by law1 the       
question of what  he ought to do1 and   
what refrain from doing1 was one which  

he alone  could decide4    ,i believe   
that this nineteenth and early-twentieth
 century  libertarianism in matters of  
thought and conduct is decreasing and   
will  continue to decrease4 ,the cult of
 uniformity is hostile to the liberty   
of the individual1 and in order to      
secure the performance of conduct  of   
which the herd approves1 the legislature
 is likely to assume a more  positive   
control over men's lives than has been  
customary in the past4  ,we shall1 in   
other words1 revert to the conception of
 one good life for  all men1 or rather  
for all poor men1 a good life which it  
is conceived  to be the business of the 
,state and of public opinion to promote4
    ,summing up1 therefore1 we may      
predict the immediate future somewhat   
as follows3 ,coming into contact with   
the increased facilities for  freedom of
 action to which reference has been     
made1 the new itch to  regulate men's   
lives will lead to persecution and      
heresy-hunting4 ,men  will be hounded   

out of public life because of their     
private morals1  and acceptance of      
certain habits of belief and codes of   
conduct will  be made indispensable to  
the holding of public appointments4     
,instead  of choosing for a post the man
 who is best qualified to do the job1 we
  shall choose the man who most nearly  
reflects the habits of thought  and     
conduct of the selection board1 that is 
to say1 of the herd who  elected the    
selection board to represent them4 ,the 
growth of ,puritanism  will bring a     
growth in hypocrisy1 a fruitful and     
invaluable offshoot  of ,puritanism4    
,there will be an even greater disparity
 between men's  practices and their     
professions than there is at present1   
and their  professions will tend        
increasingly to condemn their practices4
 ,the  world1 in short will become a    
paradise for the average man and a hell 
for the exceptional one4    ,so much we 
may expect during the next fifty years4 
,if1 however1 ,i am  asked which of the 

two opposing tendencies ,i have         
attempted to describe  in this book will
 ultimately prevail1 my answer is that  
it will not  be the bourgeois           
,puritanism whose apparent victory ,i   
foresee in the  immediate future4 ,nor1 
indeed1 do ,i think that that victory   
will be  more than apparent4    ,the    
history of morals1 like that of         
politics1 follows the swing of the      
pendulum1 and some reaction on the part 
of each generation from the  habits of  
its fathers seems to be inevitable4 ,in 
so reacting it reverts  to those of its 
fathers' fathers4 ,thus each generation 
tends to take  the gods of its          
grandfathers from the shelf upon which  
its fathers have  placed them4          
,to-day we are at the beginning of a    
period of reaction from the license  of 
the ,war4 ,the difference between young 
people of between the ages  of eighteen 
and twenty-four and their predecessors  
of seven years ago  is very marked4 ,the
 latter were casual1 offhand1 and       

easy-going4 ,they  observed little      
ceremonial in their relationships with  
each other1  smoked1 flirted and made   
love when and where they pleased1       
married in  haste and repented at       
leisure or dispensed with marriage      
altogether1  and despised rather than   
revered the aged to whom they were a    
constant  source of horror and          
amazement4 ,what is perhaps most        
noticeable about  their successors      
to-day is their improvement in manners4 
,they are  chivalrous to women1         
considerate to the old1 maintain a      
decorum at  dances which is positively  
,victorian1 and instead of hastening to 
establish sexual relations with         
whomsoever attracts them1 have actually 
gone out of their way to postpone the   
fruition of their desires by a          
reintroduction of the rite known as     
8engagement04    ,in particular1 women1 
no longer treated as the equals of men1 
are  alternatively worshipped and       
disregarded1 blown aloft like soap      

bubbles  or jettisoned as lumber4 ,the  
reaction1 in short1 is already well     
under  weigh1 and its influence for many
 years to come will be great4    ,but   
the normal cycle of action and reaction1
 of licentious eighteenth  and          
,puritanical nineteenth centuries1      
depends for its recurrence on  the      
entrance of no new factors2 it is bound 
up that is to say with the  property    
status of women and the production of   
children as the fruit  of sexual        
intercourse4 ,once new factors are      
introduced1 it may well  be thrown      
permanently out of gear4 ,birth control 
and the economic  independence of women 
are to my mind factors of this kind4    
,the changes  they portend are          
incalculable1 and1 though their full    
effects may be  delayed for two or three
 decades1 no ,puritan revival nor any   
number  of such revivals1 whether backed
 by the law or finding expression in    
public opinion merely1 will in the long 
run be able to stand against  them4     

99       99       99       99       99  
,i am conscious that what ,i have       
written in this book will seem to many  
to be cynical and disruptive4 ,i shall  
be charged with taking a low view  of   
human nature1 and speaking slightingly  
of morality4 ,my answer is1  first1 that
 what ,i have written of in these pages 
is not human nature  as a whole1 but    
that part of human nature only which    
expresses itself  in what is called     
morality2 and secondly1 that what is    
called morality  is not in any true     
sense of the word morality at all4      
,morality1 as ,i  understand it1 is     
positive3 it insists that certain things
 are good and  ought to be pursued even 
if the heavens fall4 ,but the habits of 
thought  and standards of conduct ,i    
have analyzed in this book1 although    
they  are called morality1 are not      
positive but negative4 ,their appeal is 
to  men's fears rather than to their    
hopes2 they tell them not what they     
must do to be saved1 but what they must 

not do if they are to avoid the  censure
 of society4 ,their basis is the        
instinct to possess1 and their  weapon  
the power to blame4 ,men blame those who
 claim a liberty they  dare not assert  
for themselves1 and dignify with the    
name of morality  the indulgence of     
possessive instincts in which savages   
glory without  hypocrisy4 8,what could  
,i have done in the circumstances80     
asked the  husband of an erring wife in 
a recent society scandal case4 8,if you 
ask  me to tell you ,i will4 ,you could 
have told your wife that if she went    
with the man again1 you would get her   
divorced4 ,you could then have  gone up 
to ,london and assaulted ,sir ,x ,y1 and
 to hell with your career01  replied the
 eminent counsel on the other side4     
,this is the law of the jungle2 it is   
the expression of most of what  passes  
for morality to-day1 and1 while it      
prevails1 there is little  hope for the 
world4 ,of positive morality which      
brings the conviction  that some things 

are good and ought to be pursued for    
their own sake1  there has never been   
less4 ,it is doubtful indeed whether a  
positive  morality can exist without a  
strong and lively religious feeling1 and
  religion was never at so low an ebb4  
,the emotional enthusiasm which religion
 generates is indispensable to  a true  
morality4 ,for good or for evil religion
 is the looser of great  forces4 ,it may
 be captured and made to serve base     
ends1 but under the  influence of the   
emotion which it creates men can be     
brought to believe  that some things are
 better than others1 and to overcome any
 obstacle  in order that the good things
 may prevail4 ,it is this belief which  
is  lacking in the world to-day4        
,until1 then1 the life-force can        
contrive again to send a great          
religious teacher into the world1 a     
true1 positive morality will be         
lacking4 ,the man who is born in        
,england will continue to believe that  
it is right to marry one wife1 and the  

man who is born in ,persia  will        
continue to believe that it is right to 
marry four1 and each  will invoke       
morality to justify his belief4 ,such   
morality is merely  topographical2 it   
reflects no conception of what is good1 
and it gives  us no hope that the world 
can be made better because it does not  
believe that its own world is bad4      
,meanwhile the less we write and think  
about morality the better4 ,a  world    
without religion is a sad and a tiring  
world because it lacks an  object1 and  
for this reason there have been few     
generations which have  known less      
happiness than our own4 ,in such a world
 those who think the  least have the    
best of it4 ,in such a world reflection 
can only produce  despondency1 and it is
 better to take our professions and     
prejudices  ready made from the social  
shop1 than to embark on a sea of        
troubles  by thinking out a morality for
 ourselves1 to act with the business man
  rather than to brood with the         

philosophers4    ,in a new and positive 
morality in which men can believe lies  
the hope  for the world2 yet such a     
morality cannot come without a revival  
of  religion4 ,religion and religion    
alone gives the driving force which     
impels men to change things1 and until a
 religious attitude to the  world again 
becomes part of man's common heritage1  
all the apparent  changes in morality1  
of which different ages and countries   
are the  witnesses1 will fail to        
disguise the fundamental fact that there
 is no  morality to change4             
99       99       99       99       99  
,transcriber's ,notes3     ,text in     
italics is enclosed by underscores      
7italics74     ,punctuation and spelling
 inaccuracies were silently corrected4  
,archaic and variable spelling has been 
preserved4     ,variations in           
hyphenation and compound words have been
 preserved4