Human character / by Hugh Elliot.

  • Hugh Samuel Roger Elliot
Date:
1922
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: Human character / by Hugh Elliot. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    down his conversion to reason, but reason rarely plays any part in the matter ; nor can it; the jungle is too dense to be penetrated by the light of reason. In this chaos of sentiment, carrying in its front the spurious idolatry of reason, there can be but one sound principle, and that is to exercise the most profound caution in altering or trying to alter the state of society which has grown up in course of evolution. The structure of society is not a mere chance any more than the structure of an individual is a chance. They are both the product of slow growth and evolution, which has moulded them in adaptation to the prevailing conditions. In short, there is a purpose behind our existing institutions ; they con¬ tinue to exist because they serve the purposes of social life. Few doubt that all or nearly all the organs of a human being serve some purpose in the struggle for existence, though there are many organs whose purpose has not yet been discovered. So, too, the organs of the body politic serve a purpose, though in many cases it is hard to see what that purpose is. The fanatic of reason is not satisfied, however, unless he can see reasons. If he does not see a reason, he assumes that there is none. It does not occur to him that the apparent lack of reason may be due to any deficiency of his own vision. He assumes, on the contrary, that social evolution has pursued an erroneous course, and he sets forth to repair the error by the light of his own understanding. He usually believes in the existence of God, but he is of opinion that he can effect remarkable improvements in God's handiwork. Social institutions hypostatise the human mind.
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