Darwinism in Morals, and Other Essays.
London and Edinburgh: Williams and Norgate, 1872. First edition (Jeremy Norman Darwin Collection, 1992, p.77). Original light brown cloth, gilt, decorated in gilt and brown. Spine dull. Chipping to spine ends, light rubbing to some edges. A Good copy.
The author's copy, bearing her engraved bookplate from Hengwirt, with the motto "Moriens Cano" (Dying Sing). A re-issue - despite the title page, the base of the spine bears the imprint of T. Fisher Unwin. Indeed, an ad in The Publisher's Circular (Oct. 14, 1893) declares that Mr. Fisher Unwin is re-issuing all of Miss Cobbe's popular works.
Miss Cobbe was a liberal Unitarian, feminist, and animal rights activist. She adopted the theology of Theodore Parker, was with him when he died in Florence in 1860, and published his complete Works in twelve volumes (London, 1863-65). In this essay, she respectfully disagrees with Darwin's natural historical approach to morality, which she views as corrupted by the Utilitarian philosophy, and reasonably warns that "these doctrines appear to me simply the most dangerous which have ever been set forth since the days of Mandeville" (Bernard de Mandeville, 1670-1733, precursor to the Utilitarians). "Of course (she continues), if science can really show good cause for accepting them, their consequences must be frankly faced."
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