Note 21 — Chapter III · OPPOSITION TO LOMBROSO’S VIEWS—WOMAN AS CRIMINAL—THE POLITICAL CRIMINAL—CRIMINAL PSYCHOLOGY

Compare also Havelock Ellis, “Studies in the Psychology of Sex,” vol. vi., “Sex in Relation to Society,” where this fundamental and profoundly important paradox is most thoughtfully expounded. After explaining the difference between traditional morality and ideal morality, the former being concerned with the accepted standards of social conduct, the latter embodying an attempt to reform those standards, and showing how the two moralities are of necessity opposed each to the other, Ellis goes on to say (op. cit., p. 368): “We have to remember that they are both equally sound and equally indispensable, not only to those who accept them, but to the community which they continue to hold in vital theoretical balance. We have seen them both, for instance, applied to the question of prostitution; traditional morality defends prostitution, not for its own sake, but for the sake of the marriage system, which it regards as sufficiently precious to be worth a sacrifice, while ideal morality refuses to accept the necessity of prostitution, and looks forward to progressive changes in the marriage system which will modify and diminish prostitution.”—Translator.