Note 181 — Chapter III

We understand by alcoholism the social phenomenon which consists of the chronic abuse of alcoholic beverages.181 Before touching upon the etiology of this phenomenon we must decide the biological question, why does a man consume alcohol? Always and everywhere it has been established that the liking for narcotics is natural to man. Those who believe that human nature is inclined to evil, and that the tendency to excess is innate, find the solution of the problem very simple. They reason as follows: “by alcohol this innate desire is satisfied; man is inclined to excess,—ergo … alcoholism.” Those who deny the evil nature of man find here on the contrary the crux of the problem. For, say they, the facts are there to prove that man has not always and everywhere been intemperate; there must then be other causes than this so-called sinful instinct.