第53章

LetuspassnowtowhatIhavecalledthedutiesoftheAffections，therulesthatprescribeeitherloveitselfinsomedegree，ortheservicesthatnaturallyspringfromitinthoserelationswhereitisexpectedanddesired。Here，inthefirstplace，thequestionhowfarweareboundtorendertheseserviceswhenwedonotfeeltheaffectionisanswereddifferentlyinmanycasesbydifferentpersons，andnodeterminationofthelimitseemsself-evident。Andsimilarlyifweaskwhetheraffectionitselfisaduty；forontheonehanditisatleastonlypartiallywithinthecontrolofthewill，andinsofarasitcanbeproducedbyvoluntaryeffort，thereisthoughttobesomethingunsatisfactoryandunattractiveintheresult；andontheotherhand，incertainrelationsitseemstobecommonlyregardedasaduty。OnthosepointsthedoctrineofCommonSenseisratheraroughcompromisebetweenconflictinglinesofthoughtthancapableofbeingdeducedfromaclearanduniversallyacceptedprinciple。AndifweconfineourselvestothespecialrelationswhereCommonSenseadmitsnodoubtastothebroadmoralobligationofatleastrenderingsuchservicesasaffectionnaturallyprompts，stilltherecognisedrulesofexternaldutyintheserelationsare，inthefirstplace，wantingindefinitenessandprecision:andsecondly，theydonot，whenrigorouslyexamined，appeartobe，ortobereferableto，independentintuitionssofarastheparticularityofthedutiesisconcerned。

Letustake，forexample，thedutyofparentstochildren。Wehavenodoubtaboutthisdutyasapartofthepresentorderofsociety，bywhichtheduegrowthandtrainingoftherisinggenerationisdistributedamongtheadults。Butwhenwereflectonthisarrangementitself，wecannotseeintuitivelythatitisthebestpossible。Itmaybeplausiblymaintainedthatchildrenwouldbebettertrained，physicallyandmentally，iftheywerebroughtupunderthesupervisionofphysiciansandphilosophers，inlargeinstitutionsmaintainedoutofthegeneraltaxes。Wecannotdecideaprioriwhichofthesealternativesispreferable；wehavetorefertopsychologicalandsociologicalgeneralisations，obtainedbyempiricalstudyofhumannatureinactualsocieties。If，however，weconsiderthedutyofparentsbyitself，outofconnexionwiththissocialorder，itiscertainlynotself-evidentthatweowemoretoourownchildrenthantootherswhosehappinessequallydependsonourexertions。Togetthequestionclear，letussupposethatIamthrownwithmyfamilyuponadesertisland，whereIfindanabandonedorphan。IsitevidentthatIamlessboundtoprovidethischild，asfarasliesinmypower，withthemeansofsubsistence，thanIamtoprovideformyownchildren？Accordingtosome，myspecialdutytothelatterwouldarisefromthefactthatIhavebroughtthemintobeing:but，ifso，itwouldseemthatonthisprincipleIhavearighttodiminishtheirhappiness，providedIdonotturnitintoanegativequantity；since，aswithoutmetheywouldnothaveexistedatall，theycan，asmychildren，havenoclaimuponmeformorethananexistenceonthewholeabovezeroinrespectofhappiness。Wemightevendeduceaparentalright(sofarasthisspecialclaimisconcerned)toextinguishchildrenpainlesslyatanypointoftheirexistence，ifonlytheirlifeuptothatpointhasbeenonthewholeworthhaving；forhowcanpersonswhowouldhavehadnolifeatallbutformefairlycomplainthattheyarenotallowedmorethanacertainquantity？[1]IdonotmeantoassertthatthesedoctrinesareevenimplicitlyheldbyCommonSense:butmerelytoshowthathere，aselsewhere，thepursuitofanirrefragableintuitionmayleadusunawareintoanestofparadoxes。

Itseems，then，thatwecannot，afterall，saythatthespecialdutyofparentstochildren，consideredbyitself，possessesclearself-evidence:anditwaseasytoshow(cf。chap。iv。)thatasrecognisedbyCommonSenseitslimitsareindeterminate。

Theruleprescribingthedutyofchildrentoparentsneednotdetainus；fortoCommonSenseitcertainlyseemsdoubtfulwhetherthisisnotmerelyaparticularcaseofgratitude；

andwecertainlyhavenoclearintuitionofwhatisduetoparentswhodonotdeservegratitude。Again，themoralrelationofhusbandandwifeseemstodependchieflyuponcontractanddefiniteunderstanding。Itis，nodoubt，usuallythoughtthatMorality，aswellaslawprescribescertainconditionsforallconnubialcontracts:andinourownageandcountryitisheldthattheyshouldbe(1)monogamicand(2)permanent。Butitseemsclearthatneitheroftheseopinionswouldbemaintainedtobeaprimaryintuition。Whethertheseoranyotherlegal