第48章

ItmayeasilyseemthatwhenwehavediscussedBenevolence，Justice，andtheobservanceofLawandContract，wehaveincludedinourviewthewholesphereofsocialduty，andthatwhateverothermaximswefindacceptedbyCommonSensemustbesubordinatetotheprincipleswhichwehavebeentryingtodefine。

Forwhateverweowedefinitelytoourfellow-men，besidestheobservanceofspecialcontracts，andofpositivelaws，seems——atleastbyaslightextensionofcommonusage——tobenaturallyincludedunderJustice:whilethemoreindefiniteobligationswhichwerecogniseseemtocorrespondtothegoodwillwhichwethinkoughttoexistamongallmembersofthehumanfamily，togetherwiththestrongeraffectionsappropriatetospecialrelationsandcircumstances。AndhenceitmaybethoughtthatthebestwayoftreatingthesubjectwouldhavebeentodivideDutygenerallyintoSocialandSelf-regarding，andagaintosubdividetheformerbranchintotheheadswhichIhavediscussedonebyone；afterwardsaddingsuchminordetailsofdutyashaveobtainedspecialnamesanddistinctrecognition。AndthisisperhapstheproperplacetoexplainwhyIdidnotadoptthiscourse。ThedivisionofdutiesintoSocialandSelf-regarding，thoughobvious，andacceptableenoughasaroughprimafacieclassification，doesnotoncloserexaminationseemexactlyappropriatetotheIntuitionalMethod。Forthesetitlesnaturallysuggestthatthehappinessorwell-being，oftheagentorofothers，isalwaystheendandfinaldeterminantofrightaction:whereastheIntuitionaldoctrineis，thatatleastcertainkindsofconductareprescribedabsolutely，withoutreferencetotheirulteriorconsequences。Andifamoregeneralmeaningbegiventotheterms，andbySocialdutiesweunderstandthosewhichconsistintheproductionofcertaineffectsuponothers，whileintheSelf-regardingweaimatproducingcertaineffectsuponourselves，thedivisionisstillanunsuitableone。

Fortheseconsequencesarenotclearlyrecognisedintheenunciationofcommonrulesofmorality:andinmanycasesweproducemarkedeffectsbothonourselvesandonothers，anditisnoteasytosaywhich(intheviewofCommonSense)aremostimportant:andagain，thisprincipleofdivisionwouldsometimesmakeitnecessarytocutintwotheclassofdutiesprescribedundersomecommonnotion；asthesamerulemaygovernbothoursocialandoursolitaryconduct。Take，forexample，theactsmorallyprescribedundertheheadofCourage。ItseemsclearthattheprominencegiventothisVirtueinhistoricsystemsofmoralityhasbeenduetothegreatsocialimportancethatmustalwaysattachtoit，solongascommunitiesofmenarecontinuallycalledupontofightfortheirexistenceandwell-being:butstillthequalityofbraveryisthesameessentially，whetheritbeexhibitedforselfishorsocialends。

ItisnodoubttruethatwhenweexaminewithaviewtodefinitionthekindsofconductcommendedorprescribedinanylistofVirtuescommonlyrecognised，wefind，toagreatextent，thatthemaximsweobtainareclearlynotabsoluteandindependent:thatthequalitydenotedbyourtermisadmittedlyonlypraiseworthyinsofarasitpromotesindividualorgeneralwelfare，andbecomesblameworthy——thoughremaininginotherrespectsthesame——whenitoperatesadverselytotheseends。

Wehavealreadynoticedthisresultinoneortwoinstances，anditwillbeillustratedatlengthinthefollowingchapters。Butthoughthisisthecasetoagreatextent，itis，forourpresentpurpose，ofspecialimportancetonotethe——realorapparent——exceptionstotherule；becausetheyarespeciallycharacteristicofthemethodthatwecallIntuitionism。

OneofthemostimportantoftheseexceptionsisVeracity:andtheaffinityincertainrespectsofthisduty——inspiteoffundamentaldifferences——tothedutyofGoodFaithorFidelitytoPromisesrendersitconvenienttoexaminethetwoinimmediatesuccession。Undereitherheadacertaincorrespondencebetweenwordsandfactsisprescribed:andhencethequestionsthata