第42章

Ifnowweturnagaintothepoliticalquestion，fromwhichwediverged，weseethatwehaveobtainedfromtheprecedingdiscussiononeofthecriteriaofthejusticeoflawswhichwewereseeking——viz。thattheymustavoidrunningcountertonaturalandnormalexpectations——:butweseeatthesametimethatthecriterioncannotbemadedefiniteinitsapplicationtoprivateconduct，anditiseasytoshowthatthereisthesameindefinitenessandconsequentdifficultyinapplyingittolegislation。ForLawitselfisamainsourceofnaturalexpectations；and，sinceinordinarytimesthealterationsinlawareverysmallinproportiontotheamountunaltered，thereisalwaysanaturalexpectationthattheexistinglawswillbemaintained:andalthoughthisis，ofcourse，anindefiniteanduncertainexpectationinasocietylikeours，wherelawsarecontinuallybeingalteredbylawfulauthority，itissufficientforpeopleingeneraltorelyuponinarrangingtheirconcerns，investingtheirmoney，choosingtheirplaceofabode，theirtradeandprofession，etc。Hencewhensuchexpectationsaredisappointedbyachangeinthelaw，thedisappointedpersonscomplainofinjustice，anditistosomeextentadmittedthatjusticerequiresthattheyshouldbecompensatedforthelossthusincurred。Butsuchexpectationsareofalldegreesofdefinitenessandimportance，andgenerallyextendmorewidelyastheydecreaseinvalue，liketheripplesmadebythrowingastoneintoapond，sothatitispracticallyimpossibletocompensatethemall:atthesametime，Iknownointuitiveprinciplebywhichwecouldseparatevalidclaimsfrominvalid，anddistinguishinjusticefromsimplehardship。

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Butevenifthisdifficultywereovercomefurtherreflectionmust，Ithink，showthatthecriterionabovegivenisincompleteorimperfectlystated:otherwiseitwouldappearthatnooldlawcouldbeunjust，sincelawsthathaveexistedforalongtimemustcreatecorrespondingexpectations。ButthisiscontrarytoCommonSense:aswearecontinuallybecomingconvincedthatoldlawsareunjust(e。g。lawsestablishingslavery):indeed，thiscontinuallyrecurringconvictionseemstobeoneofthegreatsourcesofchangeinthelawsofaprogressivesociety。

Perhapswemaysaythattherearenaturalexpectationswhichgrowupfromotherelementsofthesocialorder，independentofandsopossiblyconflictingwithlaws:andthatwecallrulesunjustwhichgocountertothese。Thuse。g。primogenitureappearstomanyunjust，becauseallthelandowner’schildrenarebroughtupinequallyluxurioushabits，andshareequallythepaternalcareandexpenditure，andsotheinequalityofinheritanceseemsparadoxicalandharsh。Still，wecannotexplaineverycaseinthisway:forexample，theconvictionthatslaveryisunjustcanhardlybetracedtoanythingintheestablishedorderoftheslave-holdingsociety，butseemstoariseinadifferentway。

Thetruthis，thisnotionof`naturalexpectations’isworsethanindefinite:theambiguityofthetermconcealsafundamentalconflictofideas，whichappearsmoreprofoundandfar-reachinginitsconsequencesthemoreweexamineit。Fortheword`natural’，asusedinthisconnexion，coversandconcealsthewholechasmbetweentheactualandtheideal——whatisandwhatoughttobe。Aswebeforenoticed，thetermseems，asordinarilyused，tocontainthedistinctideasof(1)thecommonasopposedtotheexceptional，and(2)theoriginalorprimitiveascontrastedwiththeresultoflaterconventionsandinstitutions。

Butitisalsousedtosignify，inmoreorlessindefinitecombinationwithoneorotherofthesemeanings，`whatwouldexistinanidealstateofsociety’。Anditiseasytoseehowthesedifferentmeaningshavebeenblendedandconfounded。Forsinceby`Nature’menhavereallymeantGod，orGodviewedinaparticularaspect——God，wemaysay，asknowntousinexperience——whentheyhavecometoconceiveabetterstateofthingsthanthatwhichactuallyexists，theyhavenotonlyregardedthisidealstateasreallyexhibitingtheDivinepurposesmorethantheactual，andasbeingsofarmore`natural’:buttheyhavegonefurther，andsupposedmoreorlessdefinitelythatthisidealstateofthingsmustbewhatGodoriginallycreated，andthatthedefectsrecognisableinwhatnowexistsmustbeduetothedeterioratingactionofmen。Butifwedismissthislatterview，asunsupportedbyhistoricalevidence，werecognisemoreplainlythecontrastandconflictbetweentheothertwomeaningsof`natural’，andthecorrespondingdiscrepancybetweenthetwoelementsofthecommonnotionofJustice。For，fromonepointofview，w