第51章

BesidestheVirtueofPurity，whichwefounditconvenienttodiscussinthelastchapter，thereremainoneortwoprominentexcellencesofcharacterwhichdonotseemtobecommonlyadmiredandinculcatedwithanydistinctreferenceeithertoprivateortogeneralhappiness；

andwhich，thoughinmostcasesobviouslyconducivetooneorotheroftheseends，sometimesseemtoinfluenceconductinadirectionatvariancewiththem。

Forexample，Courageisaqualitywhichexcitesgeneraladmiration，whetheritisshowninself-defence，orinaidingothers，orevenwhenwedonotseeanybenefitresultingfromtheparticularexhibitionofit。Again，inChristiansocieties，Humility(ifbelievedsincere)oftenobtainsunqualifiedpraise，inspiteofthelossthatmayevidentlyresultfromaman’sunderratinghisownabilities。Itwillbewell，therefore，toexaminehowfarineithercasewecanelicitaclearandindependentmaximdefiningtheconductcommendedundereachofthesenotions。

TobeginwithCourage。Wegenerallydenotebythistermadispositiontofacedangerofanykindwithoutshrinking。Wesometimesalsocallthosewhobearpainunflinchinglycourageous:butthisqualityofcharacterwemorecommonlydistinguishasFortitude。Nowitseemsplainthatifweseekforadefinitionofstrictduty，ascommonlyrecognised，undertheheadeitherofCourageorofFortitude，wecanfindnonethatdoesnotinvolveareferencetoothermaximsandends。Fornoonewouldsaythatitisourdutytofacedangerortobearavoidablepaingenerally，butonlyifitmeetsusinthecourseofduty。Andeventhisneedsfurtherqualification:forasregardssuchdutiesasthose(e。g。)ofgeneralBenevolence，itwouldbecommonlyallowedthattheagent’spainanddangeraretobetakenintoaccountinpracticallydeterminingtheirextent:——itwouldbeheldthatwearenotboundtoendureanypainexceptforthepreventionofmanifestlygreaterpaintoanother，ortheattainmentofamoreimportantamountofpositivegood:nortorunanyrisk，unlessthechanceofadditionalbenefittobegainedforanotheroutweighsthecostandchanceoflosstoourselvesifwefail。IndeeditisdoubtfulwhetherthecommonestimateofthedutyofBenevolencecouldbesaidtoamountquitetothis。[2]

When，however，weconsiderCourageasanExcellenceratherthanaduty，itseemstoholdamoreindependentpositioninourmoralestimation。Andthisviewcorrespondsmorecompletelythantheothertothecommonapplicationofthenotion；astherearemanyactsofcourage，whicharenotaltogetherwithinthecontroloftheWill，andthereforecannotberegardedasstrictduties。For(1)dangerisfrequentlysuddenandneedstobemetwithoutdeliberation，sothatourmannerofmeetingitcanonlybesemi-voluntary。And(2)thoughnaturallytimidpersonscanperhapswitheffortcontrolfearastheycanangerorappetite，iftimebeallowedfordeliberation，andcanpreventitfromtakingeffectinderelictionofduty:stillthisresultisnotallthatisrequiredfortheperformanceofsuchcourageousactsasneedmorethanordinaryenergy——fortheenergyofthetimidvirtuousmanisliabletobeexhaustedintheefforttocontrolhisfear:e。g。inbattlehecanperhapsstandstilltobekilledaswellasthecourageousmanbutnotchargewiththesameimpetuosityorstrikewiththesamevigourandprecision。[3]

SofarthenasCourageisnotcompletelyvoluntary，wehavetoconsiderwhetheritisadesirablequalityratherthanwhetherwearestrictlyboundtoexhibitit。Andherethereseemsnodoubtthatwecommonlyfinditmorallyadmirablewithoutreferencetoanyendservedbyit，andwhenthedangerswhichcallitforthmightbeavoidedwithoutanyderelictionofduty。Atthesametimewecallamanfoolhardywhorunsunnecessarilyintodangerbeyondacertaindegree。Wherethenisthelimittobefixed？Onutilitarianprinciplesweshouldendeavourtostrikeasexactabalanceaspossiblebetweentheamountofdangerincurredinanycaseandtheprobablebenefitofcultivatinganddevelopingbypracticeahabitsofrequentlynecessaryforthedueperformanceofimportantduties。

Thiswillobviouslygiveadifferentresultfordifferentstatesofsocietyanddifferentcallingsandprofessions；asmostpeopleneedthisinstinctivecouragelessincivilisedsocietiesthaninsemi-barbarousones，andciviliansless