ABSTRACT
Superior animals lack the capacity for autonomous development: they are born helpless and dependent-more so if they are called to a greater perfection-and their period of maturation is long in proportion to the excellence of the species. Many human groups must have perished through improvidence, and without any doubt, the men who have increased, multiplied, and peopled the earth are the prudent ones. A social order based on custom provides the individual with optimal guarantees that his human environment is foreseeable. It is hardly surprising that the maintenance of a familiar social order has always been regarded as a Common Good whose preservation was essential. If society tends on the whole to conserve the present state of affairs, our present knowledge has a high chance of being valid in the future. A saving of effort is possible in a society whose life is governed by routines, whereas the exertion of foresight must increase in a society in movement.
