A deductive system deriving ought from is cannot survive Hume's guillotine; Spencer's derivation of pleasure-maximizing duties from biological facts inherits this foundational logical gap.

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David Hume(as referenced in the statement): An 18th-century Scottish philosopher who argued that our desires and emotions, not reason alone, drive our actions and decisions.
Deductive system(as used in logic): A method of reasoning that starts with general rules or statements and uses them to prove that specific conclusions must be true.
Foundational logical gap(describing the fundamental flaw in Spencer's argument): A basic, underlying problem in the reasoning where the argument breaks down at its core—in this case, the failure to logically connect facts to moral duties.
Herbert Spencer(as a historical philosopher referenced in ethics): A 19th-century British philosopher who applied Charles Darwin's ideas about evolution to society and morality, arguing that survival of the fittest could justify certain ethical positions.

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