foundinanincipient,orevensometimesinawell-developed
condition, in the lower animals.^39
The fourth chapter of the same work goes still further,
affirmingthatthehumanmoralsensecanalsobetracedback
tosocialinstinctsinanimalsthatleadthemtotakepleasurein
each other’s company, feel sympathy for each other, and
performservicesofmutualassistance.Andinasubsequent
work,TheExpressionoftheEmotionsinManandAnimals,
Darwin providedadditional evidenceof extensive parallels
betweentheemotionallifeofhumanbeingsandthatofother
animals.
Thestormofresistancethatmetthetheoryofevolutionand
ofthedescentofthehumanspeciesfromanimals—astory
toowellknowntoneedretellinghere—isanindicationofthe
extent to which speciesist ideas had come to dominate
Westernthought.Theideathatwearetheproductofaspecial
actof creation,and thattheother animalswere createdto
serve us, was not to be givenup withoutresistance. The
scientificevidencefor acommon originofthehumanand
other species was, however, overwhelming.
WiththeeventualacceptanceofDarwin’stheorywereacha
modernunderstanding ofnature, onewhich has sincethen
changedindetailratherthaninfundamentals.Onlythosewho
prefer religious faith to beliefs based on reasoning and
evidence can still maintain that the human species is the
special darling of
the entire universe, or that other animals were created to
provideuswithfood,orthatwehavedivineauthorityover
them, and divine permission to kill them.