VI. Culture

Concerning the second division of culture, peremptory obligation is not to .be alleged. Those who take an ascetic view of life have no reason for that discipline of faculties CULTURE. 515 which aims to increase one or other refined pleasure; and, as among the Quakers, we see that there does in fact result a disregard of, and often a reprobation of, such dis cipline, or of parts of it. Only those.who accept hedonism can consistently advocate this exercise of intellect and feel ing which prepares the 'way for various gratifications fill ing leisure hours. They only can regard it as needful for attaining complete life, and as therefore having an ethi cal sanction. From these general ideas of culture, essential and non essential, let us go on to consider the several divisions of it. § 220. There is a part of culture, usually neglected, which should be recognized alike by those to whom it brings means of living and by those who do not seek material profit from it, which may fitly stand first. I mean the acquirement of manual dexterity.

That this is a proper' preparation for life aUlong, those occupied in productive industry, will not be disputed; though at present, even the boys "\1\Tho may need it are but little encouraged -to acquire manipulative skill: only those kinds of skill '\Thich games give are cultivated. But luanipulati ve skill and keenness of perception ought to be acquired by those also who are to have careers of higher kinds. Awkwardness of limb and inability to use the fingers deftly, continually entail small disasters and occa sionally great OIles; while expertness frequently comes in aid of welfare, either of self or others. One who has been well practised in the uses of his senses and his muscles, is less likely than the unpractised to meet with accidents; and, when accidents occur, is sure to be Illore efficient in rectify ing mischiefs. Were it not that this obvious truth is ignored, it would be absurd to point out that, since limbs and senses exist to the end ofadjusHng the actions to surrounding ob jects andmoveluents, it is the business of everyone to gain skill in the perforlnance of such actions.

516 THE ETHICS OF INDIVIDUAL LIFE .. Let it not be supposed that I am here advocating the extension of fOTlnal culture in this direction: very llluch to the contrary. The shaping of all education into lessons is one of the vices of the time. Culti vation of manipu lati ve skill, in common with expertness' in general, should he acquired in the process of achieving ends otherwise de sired. In any rationally-conducted education there must be countless occasions for the exercise of those faculties 'which the artisan and the experiInenter bring perpetually into play. § 221. Intellectual culture under its prinlary aspect links on to the culture just described; for as discipline of the limbs and senses is a fitting of theln for direct dealings with things around, so intelligence, in its successive grades, is an agent for guiding dealings of indirect kinds, greater and greater in their complexity. The higher acquisitions and achievements of intellect have now become so remote from practical life, that their" relations to it are usually lost sight of. But if we remember that in the stick employed to heave up a stone, or the paddle to propel a boat, we have illustrations of the uses of levers; while in the pointing of an arrow so as to allow for its fall during flight, certain dynamical principles are tacitly recognized; and that from these vague early cognitions the progress nlay be traced step by step to the generalizations of nlathematicians and astronomers; we see that science has gradually enlerged from the crude knowledge of the savage. And if ,ve re Inember that as this crude knowledge of the savage served for silnple "guidance of his life-sustaining actions, so the de veloped sciences of mathenlatics and astronomy serve for guidance in the workshop and the counting-house and for steering of vessels, while developed physics and chemistry preside over all manufacturing processes; we see that at the one extreme as at the other, furtherance of men's ability to deal effectually 'with the surrounding "rorld, and so to CULTURE. 517 'satisfy their wants, is that purpose of intellectual culture which precedes all others.

Even for these purposes' we distinguish as practical, that intellectual culture which makes us acquainted with the natures of things, should be wider than is commonly thought needful. Preparation for this or that kind of business is far too special. There cannot be adequate knowledge of a particular class of natural facts without ~ome knowledge of other classes. Every object and every action simultaneously presents various orders of phenomena-mathematical, physical, chelnical,-,vith, in luany c.ases, others which are vital; and these phenolnena are so interwoven that fullcornprehension of any group involves partial comprehension of the rest. Though at first sight the extent of intellectual culture thus suggested as requisite luay seem impracticable, it is not so. When education is rightly carried on, the cardinal truths of each science Inay be clearly communicated. and firmly grasped, apart from the many corollaries cor~monly' taugb.t along with them. And after there has been gained such famil iarity with these cardinal truths of the several sciences as renders their chief implications comprehensible, it becomes possible to reach rational conceptions of anyone group of phenornena, and to be fully prepared for a special occup.ation.

That division of intellectual culture which comprises knowledge of the sciences, while having an indirect ethical sanction as conducing to self-sustentation and sustentation of others, has also a direct sanction irrespective of practical ends. To the servant-girl, the ploughboy, the grocer, nay even to the average classical scholar or rnan of letters, the world, living and dead, 'with the universe around it, present no such grand ·panorama "as they do to those who' h~ve gained some conception of the actions, infinite and infinitesi mal, every,vhere going on, and can contemplate them. under 'other aspects than the technical. If we imagine that into a gorgeously..:decorated hall a rush-light is· brought, and, 518 THE ETHICS OF INDIVIDUAL LIFE. being held near to some part of the ,vall, luakes visible the pattern over a snlall area of it, while everything else remains in darkness; and If, instead of this,' we imagine that electric lights turned on reveal simultaneously the whole room with its varied contents; we may forD} some idea of the different appearance under 'which Nature is contemplated by the utterly uncultured nlind and by the highly cultured lllind. Whoever duly appreciates this irn mense contrast will see that, rightly assiInilated, science brings exaltation of mental life.

One further result rnust be recognized. That study of all orders of phenomena 'which, while it gives adequate gen eral conceptions of theIn, leads, now in this direction and now in that, to limits which no exploration can transcend, is needful to Inake us aware of our relation to the ultilnate mystery of things; and so to awaken a consciousness which ,ye may properly consider germane to the ethical con sciousness. § 222. In its fuII' acceptation, kno'wledge of science in cludes knowledge of social science; and this includes a cer tain kind of historical knowledge. Such of it as is needful for political guidance, each citizen should endeavour to obtain. Though the greater parts of the facts from which true 8n ciological generalizations lllay be drawn, are presented only by those savage and semi-civilized societies ignored in our educational courses, there are also re quired some of the facts furnished by the histories of devel oped nations.

But beyond the impersonal elements of history which chiefly demand attention, a certain attention lnay rightly be given to its personal elements. Commonly these oc cupy the entire attention. The great-luan-theory of his tory, tacitly held by the ignorant in all ages and in recent times definitely enunciated by }ill'. Carlyle, implies that knovyledge of history is constituted by knowledge of rulers CULTURE. 519 'and their doings; and by this theory' there is fostered in the Inass of nlinds a love of gossip about dead indi viduals, not much nlore respectable than the love of gossip about individuals now Iiving. But V\rhile no information concerning kings and popes, and ministers and generals, even when joined to exhausti ve acquaintance with in trigues and treaties, battles and sieges, gives any insight into the la-ws of social evolution-while the single fact that division of labour has been progressing in all advanc ing nations regardless of the wills of law-Inakers, and un observed by them, suffices to show that the forces which mould societies ·work out their results apart from, and often in spite of, the aims of leading men ; yet a certain moderate number of leading lHen and their actions may properly be contelnplated. The past stages in human progress, which everyone should know· sOInething about, would be con ceived in too shadowy a fornl if wholly divested of ideas of the persons and events associated with theIne More over, some amount of such kno,vledge is requisite to enlarge adequately the conceptio~ of hiunan nature in general to show the extrelnes, occasionally good but lllostly bad, which it is capable of reaching.

With culture of this kind there naturally goes purely literary culture. That a fair amount of this should be included in the preparation for cOluplete living, needs no saying. Rather does it need saying that in a duly pro portioned education, as well as in adult life, literature should be assigned less space· than it now has. Nearly all are prone to mental occupations of easy kinds, or kinds which yield pleasurable excitements with small efforts; and history, biography, fiction, poetry, are, in' this respect, more attractive to the majority than science-In ore attrac~ tive than that knowledge of the order of things at large ,which serves for guidance. Still, we must· not here forget that from the hedonistic point of view, taking account of this pleasure directly 520 THE ErrHICS OF INDIVIDUAL LIFE. obtained, literary culture has a high claim; and we may also admit that, as conducing to wealth and force of ex pression by furnishing Inaterials for metaphor and allusion, it increases luental power and social effectiveness.. In the absence of it conversation is bald.

§ 223. In culture, as in other things, TIlen tend towards one or other extrelue. Either, as with the great majority, culture is scarcely pursued at all, or, as with the few, it is pursued almost exclusively, and often with disastrous results. Emerson says of the gentleluan that the first requisite is to be a good animal, and this is the first requisite for everyone. A course of life which sacrifices the animal, though it may be defensible under special conditions is not defensible as a general policy. Within the sphere of our positive knowledge we nowhere see mind without life; we nowhere see life without a body; we nowhere see a full life-a life which is high alike in respect of intensity, breadth, and length-without a healthy body. Every breach of the laws of bodily health produces a physical damage, which eventually damages in some way, though often in an invisible way, the mental health.

, Culture has therefore to be carried on subject to other needs. Its amount must be such as consists with, and is con ducive to, physical welfare; and it must be also such as consists with, and is conducive to, normal activity not only of the mental powers exercised, but of all others. When carried to an extent which diminishes vivacity, and pro duces indifference to the various natural enjoyments, it is an abuse; and still luore is it an abuse when, as often happens, it is pushed so far as to produce disgust with the subjects over which attention has been unduly strained. Especially in the case of women is condemnation of over culture called for, since iInlnense mischief is done by it. We are told that the higher education, as now carried on ~t Girton and Newnham, is not inconsistent with nlainteCULTURE. 521 nance of good health; and if we omit those who are obliged to desist, this appears to be true. I say advisedly "appears to be true." There are various degrees of what is called good health. Oommonly it is. alleged and admitted where no physical disturbance is manifest;· but there. is a wide space between this and that full health which show's itself in high spirits and overflo'wing energy.

In women, especiaIl.y, there may be maintained a health ,vhich seems good, and yet falls short of the requireluents of the race. For in 'women, much more than in men, there is constitutionally provided a surplus vitality devoted to continuance of the species. When the system is over taxed the portion thus set aside is considerably diminished before the portion which goes to carryon individual life is manifestly trenched upon. The cost of activity, and espeeially of cerebral activity, which is very costly, has to be met; and if expenditure is excessive it cannot be met without deduction from that reserve power 'which should go to race-maintenance. The reproductive capacity is dhnin ished in various degrees~soInetimes to the extent of inability to bear children, more frequently to the extent of inability to yield milk, and in numerous cases to a snlaller extent 'which I must leave. unspecified. I have good authority for saying that one of the remoter results of over-culture, .very frequently becomes a cause of domestic alienation.

Let me add that an adequately 'high culture, alike of Inen and 'VOlnen, might be compassed without mischief were our (Jurri(JuZ.urn more rational. If the worthless knowl edge included in what is now supposed to be a good education were omitted, all that 'which i'8 needful for guidance, most of that which is desirable for. general en lightenment, and a good deal of that which is distinguished as decorative, might be acquired without injurious reactions. § 224. To the egoistic llloti ves for culture have to be added the altruistic motives. A human being devoid of 522 THE ETHICS OF INDIVIDUAL LIFE. knowledge, and with none of that intellectual life which discipline of the faculties gives, is utterly uninteresting. To becolne a pleasure-yielding person is a social duty. Hence culture, and especially the culture which conduces to enlivenment, has an ethical sanction and sonlething more. Especially is this true of resthetic culture, of which no note has thus far been taken. While it is to be enjoined as aiding that highest development of self required for the fullest life and happiness, it is also to be enjoined as increasing the ability to gratify those around. Though practices in the plastic arts, in music, and in poetry, are usually to he encouraged chiefly as producing suscepti bility to pleasures, which the resthetically uncultured can not have; yet those who are endowed with something more than average ability, should be led to develop it by Inotives of bene~olence also. In the highest degree this is so with music; and concerted music, subordinat ing as it does the personal element, is above all other kinds to be cultivated on altruistic grounds. It should be added, however, that excess of resthetic culture, in common with excess of intellectual culture, is to be reprobated; not in this case because of the overtax entailed, but be cause of the undue expenditure of time-the occupation of too large a space in life. ,Vith multitudes of people, especially women, the pursuit of beauty in one or other form is the predolninant pursuit. To the achievement of prettiness much more important ends are sacrificed. Though resthetic culture has to be recognized as ethically sanctioned, yet instead of elnphasizing the denland for it, there is far greater occasion for condemning the excess of it. There needs a trenchant essay on ffisthetic vices, which are every where shown in the subordination of use to appearance.