According to Kropotkin, the law which has supreme validity for man is the evolutionary law of the progress of mankind from a less happy existence to an existence as happy as possible; from this law he derives the commandment of justice and the commandment of energy.
1. The supreme law for man is the evolutionary law of the progress of mankind from a less happy existence to an existence as happy as possible.
There is "only one scientific method, the method of the natural sciences,"[433] and we apply this method also "in the sciences that relate to man,"[434] particularly in the "science of society."[435] Now, a mighty revolution is at present taking place[436] in the entire realm of science; it is the result of the "philosophy of evolution."[437] "The idea hitherto prevalent, that everything in nature stands fast, is fallen, destroyed, annihilated. Everything in nature changes; nothing remains: neither the rock which appears to us to be immovable and the continent which we call terra firma, nor the inhabitants, their customs, habits, and thoughts. All that we see about us is a transitory phenomenon, and must change, because motionlessness would be death."[438] In the case of organisms this evolution is progress, in consequence of "their admirable adaptivity to their conditions of life. They develop such faculties as render more complete both the adaptations of the aggregates to their surroundings and those of each of the constituent parts of the aggregate to the needs of free co-operation."[439] "This is the 'struggle for existence,' which, therefore, must not be conceived merely in its restricted sense of a struggle between individuals for the means of subsistence."[440]
"Evolution never advances so slowly and evenly as has been asserted. Evolution and revolution alternate, and the revolutions—that is, the times of accelerated evolution—belong to the unity of nature just as much as do the times in which evolution takes place more slowly."[441] "Order is the free equilibrium of all forces that operate upon the same point; if any of these forces are interfered with in their operation by a human will, they operate none the less, but their effects accumulate till some day they break the artificial dam and provoke a revolution."[442]
Kropotkin applies these general propositions to the social life of men.[443] "A society is an aggregation of organisms trying to combine the wants of the individual with those of co-operation for the welfare of the species";[444] it is "a whole which serves toward the purpose of attaining the largest possible amount of happiness at the least possible expense of human force."[445] Now human societies evolve,[446] and one may try to determine the direction of this evolution.[447] Societies advance from lower to higher forms of organization;[448] but the goal of this evolution—that is, the point towards which it directs itself—consists in "establishing the best conditions for realizing the greatest happiness of humanity."[449] What we call progress is the right path to this goal;[450] humanity may for the time err from this path, but will always be brought back to it at last.[451]
But not even here does evolution take place without revolutions. What is true of a man's views, of the climate of a country, of the characteristics of a species, is true also of societies: "they evolve slowly, but there are also times of the quickest transformation."[452] For circumstances of many kinds may oppose themselves to the effort of human associations to attain to the greatest possible measure of happiness.[453] "New thoughts germinate everywhere, try to get to the light, try to get themselves applied in life; but they are kept back by the inertia of those who have an interest in keeping up the old conditions, they are stifled under long-established prejudices and traditions."[454] "Political, economic, and social institutions fall in ruins, and the building which has become uninhabitable hinders the development of what is sprouting in its crevices and around it."[455] Then there is need of "great events which rudely break the thread of history and hurl mankind out of its ruts into new roads";[456] "the Revolution becomes a peremptory necessity."[457]—"Man has recognized his place in nature; he has recognized that his institutions are his work and can be refashioned by him alone."[458] "What has not the engineer's art dared, and what do not literature, painting, music, the drama dare to-day?"[459] Thus must we also, where any institutions hinder the progress of society, "dare the fight, to make a rich and overflowing life possible to all."[460]
2. From the evolutionary law of the progress of mankind from a less happy existence to the happiest existence possible Kropotkin derives the commandment of justice and the commandment of energy.
In the struggle for existence human societies evolve toward a condition in which there are given the best conditions for the attainment of the greatest happiness of mankind.[461] When we describe anything as "good," we mean by this that it favors the attainment of the goal; that is, it is beneficial to the society in which we live; and we call that "evil" which in our opinion hinders the attainment of the goal, that is, is harmful to the society we live in.[462]
Now, men's views as to what favors and what hinders the establishment of the best conditions for the attainment of mankind's greatest happiness, and hence as to what is beneficial or harmful to society, may certainly change.[463] But one fundamental requisite for the attainment of the goal will always have to be recognized as such, whatever the diversity of opinions. It "may be summed up in the sentence 'Do to others as you would have it done to you in the like case'."[464] But this sentence "is nothing else than the principle of equality";[465] and equality, in turn, "means the same as equity,"[466] "solidarity,"[467] "justice."[468]
But there is indisputably yet another fundamental requisite for the attainment of the goal. This is "something greater, finer, and mightier than mere equality";[469] it may be expressed in the sentence "Be strong; overflow with the passion of thought and action: so shall your understanding, your love, your energy, pour itself into others."[470]
