第26章

venturestoerecttheresultsofhisindividualexperienceintoauniversalstandard，heislikelytooverratesomepleasuresandunderrateothers。

Perhapsthemostconvincingillustrationsofthisarefurnishedbythinkersnotoftheidealistortranscendentaltype，butprofessedHedonists，suchasEpicurusandHobbes。WecannotacceptasfairexpressionsoftheordinaryexperienceofthehumanraceeitherEpicurus’sidentificationofpainlessnesswiththehighestdegreeofpleasure，orHobbes’sasseverationthatthegratificationsofcuriosity``farexceedinintensityallcarnaldelights’’。

Thusweseemtobeinthisdilemma:themassofmankind，towhosecommonopinionwearenaturallyreferredforcatholicallyauthoritativebeliefsrespectingtheconditionsofhappiness，aredeficientinthefacultyorthehabitofobservingandrecordingtheirexperience:andusually，inproportionasamanis，bynatureandpractice，abetterobserver，thephenomenathathehastoobservearemoreandmoredivergentfromtheordinarytype。

Onthewhole，itmust，Ithink，beadmittedthattheHedonisticmethodcannotbefreedfrominexactnessanduncertaintybyappealingtothejudgmentsofcommonsenserespectingthesourcesofhappiness。AtthesametimeIwouldnotexaggeratethedifficultyofcombiningtheseintoatolerablycoherentbodyofprobabledoctrine，notuselessforpracticalguidance。Forfirst，itmustbeobserved，thatitisonlyoccasionallyandtoalimitedextentthatthesecommonlycommendedsourcesofhappinesscomeintocompetitionwithoneanotherandarepresentedasalternatives。Forexample，thepursuitofwealthoftenleadsalsotopower(besidesthepowerthatliesinwealth)andtoreputation:andagain，theseobjectsofdesirecanusuallybebestattained——asfarasitisinourpowertoattainthematall——byemploymentwhichinitselfgivesthepleasurethatnormallyattendsenergeticexerciseofone’sbestfaculties:andthiscongenialemploymentisnotincompatiblewithadequateexerciseoftheaffections，socialanddomestic；norwithcultivatedamusement(whichmustalwaysbecarefullylimitedinamountifitistobereallyamusing)。Andnoonedoubtsthattocarryeitheremploymentoramusementtoadegreethatinjureshealthinvolvesgenerallyasacrificeofhappiness，nolessthanover-indulgenceinsensualgratifications。

Andasforthephilosophicalorquasi-philosophicalparadoxesastotheillusorinessofsensualenjoyments，wealth，power，fame，etc。，wemayexplainthewidespreadacceptancewhichthesefindbyadmittingacertaingeneraltendencytoexaggerationinthecommonestimatesofsuchobjectsofdesire，whichfromtimetotimecausesareactionandanequallyexcessivetemporarydepreciationofthem。Aswesaw(chap。iii。)

itisnaturalformentovaluetoohighlytheabsentpleasuresforwhichtheyhopeandlong:powerandfame，forexample，arecertainlyattendedwithanxietiesanddisgustswhicharenotforeseenwhentheyarerepresentedinlongingimagination:yetitmaystillbetruethattheybringtomostmenaclearbalanceofhappinessonthewhole。Itseemsclear，again，thatluxuryaddslesstotheordinaryenjoymentoflifethanmostmenstrugglingwithpenurysuppose:therearespecialdelightsattendingthehard-earnedmeal，andtherarely-recurringamusement，whichmustbeweighedagainsttheprofuserpleasuresthattherichcancommand:sothatwemayfairlyconcludethatincreaseofhappinessisveryfarfromkeepingpacewithincreaseofwealth。Ontheotherhand，whenwetakeintoaccountallthepleasuresofCulture，Power，Fame，andBeneficence，andstillmorethesecuritythatwealthgivesagainstthepainsofprivationandtheanxietiesofpenury——fortheownerhimselfandthosewhomheloves——wecanhardlydoubtthatincreaseofwealthbringsontheaveragesomeincreaseofhappiness:atleastuntilamanreachesailincomebeyondthatofthegreatmajorityinanyactualcommunity。Thusonthewholeitwouldseemtobeareasonableconclusionthat，whileitisextravaganttoaffirmthathappinessis``equallydistributedthroughallranksandcallings’’，itisyetmoreequallydistributedthantheaspectofmen’sexternalcircumstanceswouldleadustoinfer:especiallyconsideringtheimportanceofthepleasuresthatattendtheexerciseoftheaffections。Again，commonsenseisquitepreparedtorecognisethattherearepersonsofpeculiartemperamenttowhomtheordinarypleasuresoflifearereallyquitetriflingincomparisonwithmorerefinedenjoyments:andalsothatmengenerallyareliabletofall，forcertainperiods，undertheswayofabsorbingimpulses，whichtakethemoutoftherangewithinwhichthejudgmentsofcommonsenseareevenbroadlyandgenerallyvalid。Noone(e。g。)expectsalovertocaremuchforanythingexcepttheenjoymentsoflove；norconsidersthatanenthusiastsacrificeshappinessinmakingeverythinggivewaytohishobby。

Infactwemaysaythatcommonsensescarcelyclaimstoprovidemorethanratherindefinitegeneralrules，whichnoprudentmanshouldneglectwithoutgivinghimselfareasonfordoingso。Suchreasonsmayeitherbe