the Ethical Movement

ETHICAL MOVEMENT, THE. The object of the Ethi cal Movement is to emphasize the moral factor in all the rela tions of life in such a way that morality may be regarded as the fundamental and abiding part of religion, and therefore the true basis for religious union ; for the noblest religious beliefs of all civilized peoples, when traced to their source, are found to be inferences from the facts of moral life.

Never before has there been an attempt to found a religious organization in which all can unite, and yet, such is not only a possibility, but a necessity, if progress in the moral life is to be realized.

Foundation of the Movement.

The ethical movement was initiated in the United States in 1876 by Felix Adler, Ph.D. of Columbia University, a young Jew then being trained as a Rabbi. As a young man while completing his studies in Berlin, he was impressed by the sublimity of the works of Immanuel Kant, with whose philosophy he at that time identified himself. He was also influenced by his reading of the Die Arbeiterfrage of Friedrich Albert Lange. In a glow of enthusiasm his first action on return ing to America consisted, as he says "in founding among men of my own or nearly my own age a little society, which we ambitiously called a Union for the Higher Life, based upon three tacit assumptions:—sex purity, the principle of devoting the surplus of one's income beyond that required for one's own genuine needs to the elevation of the working classes, and, finally, continued intellectual development." Ethical Philosophy of Life.—Dr. Adler later broke with the Hebrew Religion, although friends urged him to maintain outward conformity in order to adapt the truth of the old faith to modern conditions. But he was too honest for this, and felt, moreover, that what was of real value in Hebrew or in any other religion needed to be "re-stated and fitted into a larger syn thesis." He compared religious growth to the growth of a tree and said "to expect that development should continue along He brew or Christian lines was like expecting that a tree would de velop along one of its branches. There is a limit beyond which the extension of a branch cannot go. Then growth must show itself in putting forth a new branch." The first actual Ethical Society was inaugurated in New York on May 15, 1876, and the bulk of it, in the words of Dr. Adler, "consisted of what would be called average people, especially of fathers and mothers who felt the need both for themselves and their children of something to take the place of the consecrating influence of the old religions." This desire for a consecrating in fluence expressed itself in the initiation of very simple Sunday services, which were without prayer or ritual and were preceded by beautiful music to induce a suitable atmosphere, the most important feature being the address. Dr. Adler's ideals as to the qualifications necessary for an ethical speaker are so high that he expressly declares :—"that he shall give his whole life to the problems of ethical living, having no professional or business interests in competition with his dedication to these problems. . . . The platform of an Ethical Society is itself the altar, the address must be the fire that burns thereon." Societies in America.—The Society founded in 1876 pros pered, and has distinguished itself by organizing a school where pupils are educated from the kindergarten to the university stage; a large number of free places are open to children of requisite ability, irrespective of race or colour.

There are now six Ethical Societies in America, viz.—The New York Society for Ethical Culture, Chicago Ethical Society, Phila delphia Society for Ethical Culture, St. Louis Ethical Society, Brooklyn Society for Ethical Culture, and the Boston Ethical Society. These are federated into the American Ethical Union, whose object is "To assert the supreme importance of the ethical factor in all relations of life, personal, social, national and inter national, apart from any theological or metaphysical considera tions." British Ethical Societies.—The New York Society for Ethi cal Culture is regarded as the parent of the British Societies. The effort has not met with the same popular success in Great Britain as in America, where religious thought appears to have been far less hampered by unfavourable social conditions and traditional influences than has there been the case. The first English Ethical Society may be said to have been founded in 1888, when Dr. Stanton Coit became minister of the South Place Religious Society after the resignation of Moncure Daniel Con way. Dr. Coit had been attached to Dr. Adler's Society in New York and his aim was to reproduce in England the main features of the American ethical culture movement, with such modifica tions as were needed by the circumstances and traditions of the older country. At his suggestion the Society was called the South Place Ethical Society. In 1892 Dr. Coit retired from South Place and later in the year became Lecturer and Organizer for the newly-formed West London Ethical Society.

In 1895 the then existing North, South, East and West London Societies took steps to become federated, the Union of Ethical Societies being formed in 1896 and finally incorporated as the Ethical Union in 1928. Its main object is :—"To promote by all lawful means the study of ethical principles; to advocate a reli gion of human fellowship and service, based upon the principle that the supreme aim of religion is the love of goodness, and that moral ideas and the moral life are independent of beliefs as to the ultimate nature of things and a life after death ; and, by purely human and natural means, to help men to love, know, and do the right in all relations of life." The English ethical movement has included amongst its sup porters and sympathizers Professors Leslie Stephen, J. H. Muir head, Bernard Bosanquet, and Alexander and J. S. Mackenzie, as well as other distinguished moral philosophers and prominent men of science and letters, some of whom have been presidents of the Union. The Secular Education League was founded in 1907 as the result of a public conference convened by the Union in 1906. It regards religion as a personal and private matter which all should be free to pursue in a private capacity. In 1911 the Union assisted in promoting the first Universal Races Congress in London; it attracted world-wide attention and 17 Governments were officially represented.

A series of conferences of modern religious thinkers were convened by the Union in 192o, 1921 and 1923, at which Pro fessors Gilbert Murray, J. B. Bury and L. T. Hobhouse presided. Distinguished speakers, representing many diversities of faith, attended to address the meetings.

Summer Schools for the consideration of vital social and moral problems were arranged in 1926, 1927 and 1928, experts being invited to speak on the subjects under discussion. A constant propaganda has been sustained by the English Ethical Union. It has produced, either directly or in association with publishers, many pamphlets, leaflets and books in advocacy of the principles of the Movement.

The English Ethical Societies are as follows:—The Ethical Church, Bayswater, the Forest Group of the Ethical Movement, Hampstead Ethical Institute, South London Ethical Society, South Place Ethical Society, Wimbledon Ethical Society, The Women's Group of the Ethical Movement, and The Young People's Group of the Ethical Movement. They are akin both in thought and method to the Ethical Societies in America, with whom a close relationship is maintained.

BIBLIOGRAPHY.-W. M. Salter, Ethical Religion (1889, 1905) ; F. Bibliography.-W. M. Salter, Ethical Religion (1889, 1905) ; F. Adler, An Ethical Philosophy of Life (1918) ; The Reconstruction of the Spiritual Ideal (1923) ; Stanton Coit, The Message of Man (1895, 1902) ; H. J. Bridges, The Ethical Movement (191I), The God of Fundamentalism (1925) ; A. Martin, The Distinctive Features of the Ethical Movement (1926) ; also Gustave Spiller's "The Ethical Move ment" in Hastings' Encyclopaedia of Religion and Ethics (1908-25) , with bibliography.