Evolution of the Moral Instinct

Abstract

MR. SUTHERLAND'S work is thoroughly Darwinian, being based on a huge mass of observations which he has selected without apparent bias, marshalled well, and handled judiciously. Few books written since Darwin's time on the evolution of the human mind, are so thorough and comprehensive and well deserving of study. Its chief merit lies in the solid treatment by which the writer confirms and extends the masterly sketch drawn by Darwin in the fourth and fifth chapters of his “Descent of Man,” but it is also extremely original in many particulars; and though somewhat diffuse here and there, is interesting throughout. Mr. Sutherland resides in Australia, where it must have been more difficult to obtain that ready access to books and authorities which European students enjoy, and to obtain skilled help in his experiments; he is therefore entitled to a proportionate increase of praise and to much excuse where he is open to criticism.

The Origin and Growth of the Moral Instinct.

By Alexander Sutherland Two vols. Pp. xiii + 461, and vi + 336. (London: Longmans, Green, and Co., 1898.)