The motives of men

"The motives of men" by George Albert Coe is a treatise on moral psychology and social philosophy written in the early 20th century. It examines what truly drives human behavior and why modern society has grown skeptical of human goodness, tracing this mood through war, scientific theories, literature, industrialism, and organized religion. The work argues that our disillusionment rests on partial truths and misread motives, and points toward cultivating broader, higher aims as the path to renewal.

The opening of the book lays out Coe’s purpose and standpoint: a teacher of education and the psychology of religion, he seeks a clear account of human motivation that can guide schools, churches, and public life. He begins by asserting that our wants define us—narrow wants shrink life; expansive, re-shaped wants enlarge it—and criticizes education and religion for vending existing “goods” rather than awakening better desires. Part I surveys how confidence in human nature eroded: from the shift from 19th‑century optimism to postwar cynicism; the war’s propaganda, profiteering, and moral confusion; misconceptions about evolution; a new literature that foregrounds irrational impulses; and conflicting psychologies that filter into popular thought. He identifies industrialism as the chief source of disillusionment, normalizing profit-first motives, conflict, and insincerity, and shows Christianity’s dilemma: unable to demonstrate genuine regeneration, churches often accommodate the very system that diminishes human dignity. As Part II begins, he reframes the issue: the world is ample, but we doubt our capacity to desire greatly and nobly—an assumption he intends to challenge.