By John Grier Hibben.
President of Princeton University; author of works on logic
and philosophy.
_The address printed below was delivered by President Hibben at the
opening of the Laymen's Efficiency Convention in New York City, Oct. 16,
1914._
We are all of us sadly conscious of our failure to realize in any
adequate measure the standards of right conduct which we set for
ourselves. Attainment falls far short of purpose and desire. Through
want of courage, or it may be of inclination, or of sheer inertia, we
fail to obey perfectly the law of duty which we recognize as
imperatively binding upon us. There is, however, a more subtle kind of
failure as regards our moral endeavor and achievement which is due to
the unconscious shifting of these standards of right and wrong
themselves. It is not merely that we fail to do that which we know to be
right, but at times the very idea of right itself is strangely altered.
The good insensibly assimilates to itself certain elements of evil which
we allow and accept without full realization of the significance of this
moral alchemy to which the most fundamental of our ideas are often times
subjected. The idea of right no longer stands in its integrity, but is
compromised and even neutralized by conflicting thoughts and sentiments.
The things which at one time held first place in our estimate of life
become secondary. Our attitude toward men, and manners, and affairs
experiences a radical change. This in most cases takes place
unconsciously, or if conscious of it, we refrain from confessing it even
to ourselves.
There are some, however, who are both frank enough and bold enough to
announce their belief in the radical doctrine which demands a complete
transformation of essential values. For them, good is evil and evil
good, and they seem not ashamed to avow it. The conspicuous German
philosopher of later years, Nietzsche, with a naïve simplicity insists
that the great need of our modern civilization is that which he
designates as "the transvaluation of all values." By this he means the
complete transformation of certain ideas of supreme value into their
direct opposites. He declares, for instance, that the central virtues of
Christianity, such as those of self-sacrifice, pity, mercy, indicate an
inherent weakness of the human race, and that the strong man dissipates
his energies through the offices of kindness and helpfulness. Thus the
law which commands us to bear one another's burdens must be regarded as
obsolete. Every man should be strong enough to bear his own burdens. If
not, he is a drag to the onward progress of humanity, and to assist him
is to do evil and not good. If you help the weak, you so far forth
assist in perpetuating an inferior type of manhood.