第50章

Theremainingvirtuesthatareclearlyandexclusivelysocial，willbeeasilyseentohavenoindependentmaxims；

theconductinwhichtheyarerespectivelyrealisedbeingmerelythefulfilment，underspecialconditions，oftherulesalreadydiscussed。Weneednot，then，enteruponanexhaustiveexaminationoftheseminorvirtues——foritisnotourobjecttoframeacompleteglossaryofethicalterms——:

butforillustration’ssakeitmaybewelltodiscussoneortwoofthem；

andIwillselectforexaminationLiberalitywithitscognatenotions，partlyonaccountoftheprominencethatithashadintheearlieragesofthought，andpartlybecauseofacertaincomplexityinthefeelingswithwhichitisusuallyregarded。ConsideredasaVirtue，LiberalityseemstobemerelyBenevolence，asexhibitedintheparticularserviceofgivingmoney，beyondthelimitsofstrictdutyascommonlyrecognised——forinsofarasitcanbecalledadutytobeliberal，itisbecauseintheperformanceofthemoreorlessindefinitedutiesenumeratedinchap。iv。wedonotlikeexactnesstobesought；acertainexcessisneedfulifthedutyistobewelldone。Andperhapsinthecaseofthepoorthisgracefulexcessisexcludedbyprudence:forthoughapoormanmightmakeagreatsacrificeinasmallgiftweshouldcallthisgenerousbutscarcelyliberal；Liberalityappearstorequireanexternalabundanceinthegiftevenmorethanaself-sacrificingdisposition。Itseemsthereforetobepossibleonlytotherich:and，asIhavehinted，intheadmirationcommonlyaccordedtoitthereseemstobemingledanelementratheraestheticthanmoral。Forweareallapttoadmirepower，andwerecognisethelatentpowerofwealthgracefullyexhibitedinacertaindegreeofcarelessprofusionwhentheobjectistogivehappinesstoothers。Indeedthevulgaradmirethesamecarelessnessasmanifestedeveninselfishluxury。

ThesphereofLiberality，then，liesgenerallyinthefulfilmentoftheindefinitedutiesofBenevolence。

ButthereisacertainbordergroundbetweenJusticeandBenevolencewhereitisespeciallyshown；namely，inthefullsatisfactionofallcustomaryexpectations，evenwhenindefiniteanduncertain；as(e。g。)intheremunerationofservices，insofarasthisisgovernedbycustom；andevenwhereitisleftentirelytofreecontract，andthereforenaturallydeterminedbyhagglingandbargaining(asmarketvaluegenerally)，itischaracteristicofaliberalmantoavoidthishagglingandtogivesomewhathigherremunerationthantheotherpartymightbeinducedtotake，andsimilarlytotakeforhisownservicesasomewhatlowerpaymentthanhemightpersuadetheothertogive。Andagain，sincelawsandpromisesandespeciallytacitunderstandingsaresometimesdoubtfulandambiguous，aliberalmanwillinsuchcasesunhesitatinglyadopttheinterpretationwhichisleastinhisownfavour，andpaythemostthathecanbyanyfairmindedpersonbethoughttoowe，andexacttheleastthatreasonablycanbethoughttobeduetohimself:thatis，ifthemarginbe，relativelytohisresources，notconsiderable。[1]AndofamanwhodoestheoppositeofallthiswepredicateMeanness；thisbeingtheviceantitheticaltoLiberality。Hereagainthereseemsnoplaceforthisparticularviceiftheamountatstakebeconsiderable；forthenwethinkitnotmeantoexactone’sownrightstothefull，andworsethanmeantorefuseanotherwhatheoughttohave；

infactinsuchcaseswethinkthatanyindefinitenessastorightsshouldbepracticallyremovedbythedecisionofajudgeorarbitrator。Theviceofmeannessthenis，wemaysay，boundedonthesideofvicebyinjustice:

themeanmanisblamednotforviolationofJustice，but，becausehechoosesatriflinggaintohimselfratherthantheavoidanceofdisappointmenttoothers。Andhere，again，itshouldbeobserved，anelementnotstrictlymoralisincludedinthecommondisapprobationofmeanness。For，aswehaveseen，acertaincarelessnessofmoneyisadmiredasasignofpowerandsuperiority:andtheoppositehabitisasymbolofinferiority。Themeanmanthenisapttobedespisedashavingthebadtastetoshowthissymbolneedlessly，preferringalittlegaintotherespectofhisfellow-men。

Meanness，however，hasawiderspherethanLiberality，andrefersnotmerelytothetakingorrefusingofmoney，buttotakingadvantagesgenerally:inthiswidersensetheoppositevirtueisGenerosity。

InsofarasthesphereofGenerositycoincideswiththatofLiberality，theformerseemspartlytotranscendthelatter，partlytorefermoretofeelingsthantooutwardacts，andtoimplyacompletertriumphofunselfishoverselfishimpulses。Inthewidersenseitisstrikinglyexhibitedinconflictandcompetitionofallkinds。HereitissometimescalledChivalry。ReflectionshowsusthattheessenceofthisbeautifulvirtueistherealisationofBenevolenceundercircumstanceswhichmakeitpeculiarlydifficultandthereforepeculiarlyadmirable。ForGenerosityorChivalrytowardsadversariesorcompetitorsseemstoconsistinshowingasmuchkindnessandregardfortheirwell-beingasiscompatiblewiththeendsandconditionsofconflict:oneprominentformofthisbeingtheendeavourtorealiseidealjusticeintheseconditions，notmerelybyobservingalltherulesa