"No! for the Good of the species consists in the selection of the best individuals. It is indifferent to all the rest"
"Then by the Good of the species you mean the good of the selected individuals?"
"Not exactly; I mean it is good that those individuals should be selected."
"But good for whom, if not for them? For the individuals who are eliminated? Or for you who look on? Or perhaps, for God?"
"God! No! I mean good, simply good."
"I'm afraid I don't understand," I said. "Does Good then hang, as it were, in the air, being Good for nobody at all?"
"Well, if you like, we will say it is good for Nature."
"But is Nature, then, a conscious being?"
"I don't say that"
"I am very sorry," I said, "but really I cannot understand you. If you reject God, I see only two alternatives remaining. Either the Good you speak of is that of all the individuals of the species taken together, or it is that of the best individuals; and in either case I seem to see difficulties."