ity of reason. But shall I give to
each an equal share on the ground that both are equally my children or
shall I reason that as John is older or larger or hungrier or mentally
keener or more generous or is a male, he shall have a larger piece than
Jane? To settle this it may be said that we ought to see whether there
is any connection between the size of the piece and the particular
quality of John which is considered, or that by a somewhat different use
of reason we should look at the whole situation and see how we shall
best promote family harmony and mutual affection. To settle the first of
these problems, that of the connection between the size of the piece and
the size of the hunger or the sex of the child, is seemingly again a
question of analysis, of finding identical units, but a moment's thought
shows that the case is not so simple; that the larger child should have
the larger piece is by no means self-evident. This is in principle
doubtless the logic, to him that hath shall be given. It is the logic of
the survival of the strong, but over against that the moral
consciousness has always set another logic which says that the smaller
child should have the larger piece if thereby intelligent sympathy can
contribute toward evening up the lot of the smaller. Now it is precisely
this attitude of the moral consciousness which is not suggested by the
term reason, for it is quite different from the analytic and identifying
activity. This analytical and identifying activity may very well rule
out of court the hypothesis that I should give John the larger piece
because he has already eaten too much or because he has just found a
penny or because he has red hair; it has undoubtedly helped in
abolishing such practices as that of testing innocence by the ordeal.
But before the crucial question of justice which divides modern society,
namely, whether we shall lay emphasis upon adjustment of rewards to
previous abilities, habits, possessions, character, or shall lay stress
upon needs, and the possibility of bringing about a greater measure of
equality, the doctrine which would find its standard in an _a priori_
reason is helpless.

If we look at the second test suggested, namely, that of considering the
situation as a whole with a view to the harmony of the children and the
mutual affection within the family, there can be even less question that
this is no mere logical problem of the individuals in a logical genus.
It is the