GUIDE TO THE PHILOSOPHY 1938 - 1947.pdf - Rare Books at ...

806 ETHICS AND POLITICS: THE MODERNS
scheme or assist in the furtherance of the evolutionary
process. Thus each generation of women must accept as
its sole function the production of children who will constitute
the next generation who, in their turn, will devote
their lives and sacrifice their inclinations to the task of
producing a further generation) and BO on ad infimtum.
This is the doctrine of eternal sacrifice "jam yesterday,
jam to-morrow, but never jam today". For, it may be
asked, to what end should generations be produced, unless
the individuals who compose them are valued in and for
themselves, are, in fact, ends in themselves? There is no
escape from the doctrine of the perpetual recurrence of
generations who have value only in so far as they produce
more generations, the perpetual subordination of citizens
who have value only in so far as they promote the interests
of the State to which they are subordinated, except in the
individualist doctrine, which is also the Christian doctrine,
that the individual is an end in himself. The Christian
would add that he is also an immortal soul. I do not know
how to prove this, but to deny it is to blaspheme against
the essential dignity of the individual human being, and to
him to the level of a machine or a slave.
degrade
Conclusion. The conclusions reached in other parts
of the book enable me to supplement the above statement
in two ways. In Part II, I suggested that the good life
for the individual consists in the pursuit of certain absolute
values. If I am right, if, that is to say, it is by the pursuit
of values that a man develops his personality, we ipay
add that the object of the State is to establish those crn-
ditions in which the individual can pursue absolute values,
and to encourage him in their pursuit We are thus enabled
to establish a principle of progress in society, which is
also a standard of measurement whereby to assess the
relative worths of different societies. The principle will be
that one society is more advanced or, if the expression be
preferred, is "better" than another, if its members more
clearly apprehend the values of truth, moral virtue,