THE RELATIONS BETWEEN SCIENCE AND ETHICS

Abstract

IN commenting upon Dr. Waddington's article, the need to be brief compels me to concentrate upon a single point and to say too shortly what requires to be argued with the help of detailed examples. The point I select for comment is that the contribution of science to ethics lies in its revelation of “the character and direction of the evolutionary process in the world as a whole”, and that the examination of this direction will yield the criterion of human action. Although I am in agreement with much that Dr. Waddington says here and in his little book, “The Scientific Attitude”, I find a serious difficulty in understanding his present argument. He maintains that the “real good” is that which has been effective, that is, that which has been exemplified in the course of evolution; accordingly, he argues that “we must accept the direction of evolution as good simply because it is good according to any realist definition of that concept”. Presumably the word “must” in this sentence means “are logically compelled”, so that our acceptance is an admission of what follows logically from the “realist definition” of good.