第25章

Inthefirstplace，CommonSensegivesusonly，atthebest，anestimatetrueforanaverageortypicalhumanbeing:and，aswehavealreadyseen，itisprobablethatanyparticularindividualwillbemoreorlessdivergentfromthistype。Inanycase，therefore，eachpersonwillhavetocorrecttheestimateofcommonopinionbytheresultsofhisownexperienceinordertoobtainfromittrustworthyguidanceforhisownconduct:andthisprocessofcorrection，itwouldseem，mustbeinvolvedinallthedifficultiesfromwhichwearetryingtoescape。

But，secondly，theexperienceofthemassofmankindisconfinedwithinlimitstoonarrowforitsresultstobeofmuchavailinthepresentinquiry。

Themajorityofhumanbeingsspendmostoftheirtimeinlabouringtoavertstarvationandseverebodilydiscomfort:andthebriefleisurethatremainstothem，aftersupplyingthebodilyneedsoffood，sleep，etc。，isspentinwaysdeterminedratherbyimpulse，routine，andhabit，thanbyadeliberateestimateofprobablepleasure。Itwouldseem，then，thatthecommonsensetowhichwehaveheretorefercanonlybethatofaminorityofcomparativelyrichandleisuredpersons。

Butagain，wecannottellthatthemassofmankind，oranysectionofthemass，isnotgenerallyandnormallyundertheinfluenceofsonicofthecausesofmal-observationpreviouslynoticed。Weavoidthe``idolsofthecave’’bytrustingCommonSense，butwhatistoguardusagainstthe``idolsofthetribe’’？Moreover，thecommonestimateofdifferentsourcesofhappinessseemstoinvolvealltheconfusionofideasandpointsofview，whichindefiningtheempiricalmethodofHedonismwehavetakensomepainstoeliminate。Inthefirstplaceitdoesnotdistinguishbetweenobjectsofnaturaldesireandsourcesofexperiencedpleasure。

Nowwehaveseen(Booki。chap。iv。)thatthesetwoarenotexactlycoincident——indeedwefindnumerousexamplesofmenwhocontinuenotonlytofeelbuttoindulgedesires，thegratificationofwhichtheyknowbyampleexperiencetobeattendedwithmorepainthanpleasure。Andthereforethecurrentestimateofthedesirabilityofobjectsofpursuitcannotbetakentoexpresssimplymen’sexperienceofpleasureandpain:formenareapttothinkdesirablewhattheystronglydesire，whetherornottheyhavefounditconducivetohappinessonthewhole:andsothecommonopinionwilltendtorepresentacompromisebetweentheaverageforceofdesiresandtheaverageexperienceoftheconsequencesofgratifyingthem。

Wemustallowagainfortheinterminglingofmoralwithpurelyhedonisticpreferencesintheestimateofcommonsense。Forevenwhenmendefinitelyexpectgreaterhappinessfromthecourseofconductwhichtheychoosethanfromanyother，itisoftenbecausetheythinkittheright，ormoreexcellent，ormorenoblecourse；making，moreorlessunconsciously，theassumption(whichweshallpresentlyhavetoconsider)

thatthemorallybestactionwillprovetobealsothemostconducivetotheagent’shappiness。Andasimilarassumptionseemstobemade——withoutadequatewarrant——asregardsmerelyæ；stheticpreferences。

Again，theintroductionofthemoralandæ；stheticpointsofviewsuggeststhefollowingdoubt:——Arewetobeguidedbythepreferenceswhichmenavow，orbythosewhichtheiractionswouldleadustoinfer？Ontheonehand，wecannotdoubtthatmenoften，fromweaknessofcharacter，failtoseekwhattheysincerelybelievewillgivethemmostpleasureinthelong-run:ontheotherhand，asagenuinepreferenceforvirtuousorrefinedpleasureisamarkofgenuinevirtueorrefinedtaste，menwhodonotreallyfeelsuchpreferenceareunconsciouslyorconsciouslyinfluencedbyadesiretogaincreditforit，andtheirexpressestimateofpleasuresisthusmodifiedandcoloured。

But，evenifwehadnodoubtongeneralgroundsthatCommonSensewouldproveourbestguideinthepursuitofhappiness，weshouldstillbeperplexedbyfindingitsutterancesonthistopicverydeficientinclearnessandconsistency。I

donotmerelymeanthattheyaredifferentindifferentagesandcountries——thatwemightexplainasduetovariationsinthegeneralconditionsofhumanlife——:butthatseriousconflictsandambiguitiesarefoundifweconsideronlythecurrentcommonsenseofourownageandcountry。Wecanmakealistofsourcesofhappinessapparentlyrecommendedbyanoverwhelmingconsensusofcurrentopinion:ashealth，wealth，friendshipandfamilyaffections，fameandsocialposition，power，interestingandcongenialoccupationandamusement，——includingthegrat