ALTRUISM
ITS NATURE AND VARIETIES
ALTRUISM
ITS NATURE AND VARIETIES
THE ELY LECTURES FOR 1917–18
BY
GEORGE HERBERT PALMER
CHARLES SCRIBNER’S SONS
NEW YORK ❦ ❦ ❦ ❦ 1919
Copyright, 1919, by
CHARLES SCRIBNER’S SONS
Published January, 1919
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THE ELY FOUNDATION
The Elias P. Ely Lectureship wasfounded by Mr. Zebulon Stiles Ely, May8, 1865. The deed of gift contains thefollowing paragraphs:
“The undersigned gives the sum of ten thousanddollars to the Union Theological Seminary of theCity of New York to found a Lectureship in thesame, the title of which shall be the ‘Elias P. ElyLectures on the Evidences of Christianity,’ on thefollowing conditions:
“The course of lectures given on this foundationis to comprise any topics that serve to establishthe proposition that Christianity is a religion fromGod, or that it is the perfect and final form of religionfor man. Among the subjects discussed maybe the nature and need of a revelation; the characterand influence of Christ and His apostles; theauthenticity and credibility of the Scriptures, miracles,and prophecy; the diffusion and benefits ofChristianity; the philosophy of religion in its relationto the Christian system.”
Under date of May 24, 1879, Mr. Elyaddressed a communication to the Directorsviof the Seminary in which the conditionsof the Lectureship are amplified asfollows:
“The conditions of the foundation of the EliasP. Ely Lectureship, dated May 8, 1865, are herebymodified, so that the course of public lectures thereinprovided for, may not only be on ‘The Evidencesof Christianity,’ but on such other subjects as theFaculty and Directors, in concurrence with theundersigned, while living, may deem for the goodof man.”
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PREFACE
I here present the substance of eightEly Lectures delivered in the spring of1918 at Union Theological Seminary inNew York. They were spoken withoutmanuscript. In writing them out fromthe stenographer’s notes I have condensedthem considerably. In these belligerentdays publishers are disposed to economizepaper and print, and readers to prize brevityin everything except newspapers. Suchrestrictions force on us loquacious bookmakersgreater regard for compactnessand lucidity, and are thus not altogetheran injury.
The book seeks to call attention to asection of ethics in regard to which thepublic mind greatly needs clarifying. Altruismand egoism, socialism and individualism,are in our time sentimentally arrayedagainst one another as independent andantagonistic agencies, each having its partisans.A careful examination will show,viiiI think, that the one has meaning onlywhen in company with its supposed rival.I have thought to make this clearest bytracing three stages through which thealtruistic impulse passes in every-day life,exhi