第52章

Thereseemtobefourconditions，thecompletefulfilmentofwhichwouldestablishasignificantproposition，apparentlyself-evident，inthehighestdegreeofcertaintyattainable:andwhichmustbeapproximatelyrealisedbythepremisesofourreasoninginanyinquiry，ifthatreasoningistoleaduscogentlytotrustworthyconclusions。

I。Thetermsofthepropositionmustbeclearandprecise。TherivaloriginatorsofmodernMethodology，DescartesandBacon，viewitheachotherinthestressthattheylayonthispoint；andthelatter’swarningagainstthe``notionesmaleterminatæ；’’ofordinarythoughtispeculiarlyneededinethicaldiscussion。InfactmychiefbusinessintheprecedingsurveyhasbeentofreethecommontermsofEthics，asfaraspossible，fromobjectiononthisscore。

II。Theself-evidenceofthepropositionmustbeascertainedbycarefulreflection。Itisneedfultoinsistonthis，becausemostpersonsareliabletoconfoundintuitions，ontheonehandwithmereimpressionsorimpulses，whichtocarefulobservationdonotpresentthemselvesasclaimingtobedictatesofReason；andontheotherhand，withmereopinions，towhichthefamiliaritythatcomesfromfrequenthearingandrepetitionoftengivesafalseappearanceofself-evidencewhichattentivereflectiondisperses。InsuchcasestheCartesianmethodoftestingtheultimatepremisesofourreasonings，byaskingourselvesifweclearlyanddistinctlyapprehendthemtobetrue，maybeofrealuse；thoughitdoesnot，asDescartessupposed，affordacompleteprotectionagainsterror。

Arigorousdemandforself-evidenceinourpremisesisavaluableprotectionagainstthemisleadinginfluenceofourownirrationalimpulsesonourjudgments:whileatthesametimeitnotonlydistinguishesasinadequatethemereexternalsupportofauthorityandtradition，butalsoexcludesthemoresubtleandlatenteffectoftheseinfashioningourmindstoafacileandunquestioningadmissionofcommonbutunwarrantedassumptions。

AndwemayobservethattheapplicationofthistestisespeciallyneededinEthics。

For，ontheonehand，itcannotbedeniedthatanystrongsentiment，howeverpurelysubjective，isapttotransformitselfintothesemblanceofanintuition；anditrequirescarefulcontemplationtodetecttheillusion。

Whateverwedesireweareapttopronouncedesirable:andwearestronglytemptedtoapproveofwhateverconductgivesuskeenpleasure。Andontheotherhand，amongtherulesofconducttowhichwecustomarilyconform，therearemanywhichreflectionshowstobereallyderivedfromsomeexternalauthority:sothateveniftheirobligationbeunquestionable，theycannotbeintuitivelyascertained。ThisisofcoursethecasewiththePositiveLawofthecommunitytowhichwebelong。Thereisnodoubtthatweought，——atleastgenerallyspeaking，——toobeythis:butwhatitiswecannotofcourseascertainbyanyprocessofabstractreflection，butonlybyconsultingReportsandStatutes。Here，however，thesourcesofknowledgearesodefiniteandconspicuous，thatweareinnodangerofconfoundingtheknowledgegainedfromstudyingthemwiththeresultsofabstractcontemplation。Thecaseissomewhatdifferentwiththetraditionalandcustomaryrulesofbehaviourwhichexistineverysociety，supplementingtheregulativeoperationofLawproper:hereitismuchmoredifficulttodistinguishtheruleswhichamoralmaniscalledupontodefineforhimself，bytheapplicationofintuitivelyknownprinciples，fromthoseastowhichsomeauthorityexternaltotheindividualisrecognisedasthefinalarbiter。

WemayillustratethisbyreferringtotwosystemsofruleswhichwehavebeforecomparedwithMorality；

theLawofHonour，andtheLawofFashionorEtiquette。Inoticedthatthereisanambiguityinthecommonterms`honourable’and`dishonourable’；

whicharenodoubtsometimesused，likeethicalterms，asimplyinganabsolutestandard。Still，whenwespeakoftheCodeofHonourweseemtomeanrulesofwhichtheexactnatureistobefinallydeterminedbyanappealtothegeneralopinionofwell-bredpersons:weadmitthatamanisinasense`dishonoured’whenthisopinioncondemnshim，eventhoughwemaythinkhisconductunobjectionableorevenintrinsicallyadmirable。[3]Similarly，whenweconsiderfromthepointofviewofreasontherulesofFashionorEtiquette，somemayseemusefulandcommendable，someindifferentandarbitrary，someperhapsabsurdandburdensome:butneverthelesswerecognisethatthefinalauthorityonmattersofEtiquetteisthecustomofpolitesociety；whichfeelsitselfundernoobligationofreducingitsrulestorationalprinciples。YetitmustbeobservedthateachindividualinanysocietycommonlyfindsinhimselfaknowledgenotobviouslyincompleteoftherulesofHonourandEtiquette，andanimpulsetoconformtothemwithoutrequiringanyfurtherreasonfordoingso。Eachoftenseemstoseeataglancewhatishonourableandpolitejustasclearlyasheseeswhatisright:anditrequiressomeconsiderationtodiscoverthatintheformerc