第69章

TheprecedingsurveyhassupplieduswithseveralillustrationsofthemannerinwhichUtilitarianismisnormallyintroducedasamethodfordecidingbetweendifferentconflictingclaims，incaseswherecommonsenseleavestheirrelativeimportanceobscure，——as(e。g。)betweenthedifferentdutiesoftheaffections，andthedifferentprincipleswhichanalysisshowstobeinvolvedinourcommonconceptionofJustice——:andwehavealsonoticedhow，whenadisputeisraisedastotheprecisescopeanddefinitionofanycurrentmoralrule，theeffectsofdifferentacceptationsoftheruleongeneralhappinessorsocialwellbeingarecommonlyregardedastheultimategroundsonwhichthedisputeistobedecided。Infactthesetwoargumentspracticallyrunintoone；foritisgenerallyaconflictbetweenmaximsthatimpressesmenwiththeneedofgivingeachaprecisedefinition。Itmaybeurgedthattheconsequencestowhichreferenceiscommonlymadeinsuchcasesarerathereffectson`socialwellbeing’thanon`generalhappiness’asunderstoodbyUtilitarians；

andthatthetwonotionsoughtnottobeidentified。Igrantthis:butinthelastchapteroftheprecedingBookIhavetriedtoshowthatCommonSenseisunconsciouslyutilitarianinitspracticaldeterminationofthoseveryelementsinthenotionofUltimateGoodorWellbeingwhichatfirstsightleastadmitofahedonisticinterpretation。Wemaynowobservethatthishypothesisof`UnconsciousUtilitarianism’explainsthedifferentrelativeimportanceattachedtoparticularvirtuesbydifferentclassesofhumanbeings，andthedifferentemphasiswithwhichthesamevirtueisinculcatedonthesedifferentclassesbymankindgenerally。Forsuchdifferencesordinarilycorrespondtovariations——realorapparent——intheUtilitarianimportanceofthevirtuesunderdifferentcircumstances。

Thuswehavenoticedthegreaterstresslaidonchastityinwomenthaninmen:courage，ontheotherhand，ismorevaluedinthelatter，astheyaremorecalledupontocopeenergeticallywithsuddenandseveredangers。

Andforsimilarreasonsasoldierisexpectedtoshowahigherdegreeofcouragethan(e。g。)apriest。Again，thoughweesteemcandourandscrupuloussincerityinmostpersons，wescarcelylookfortheminadiplomatistwhohastoconcealsecrets，nordoweexpectthatatradesmanindescribinghisgoodsshouldfranklypointouttheirdefectstohiscustomers。

Finally，whenwecomparethedifferentmoralcodesofdifferentagesandcountries，weseethatthediscrepanciesamongthemcorrespond，atleasttoagreatextent，todifferenceseitherintheactualeffectsofactionsonhappiness，orintheextenttowhichsucheffectsaregenerallyforeseen——orregardedasimportant——bythemenamongwhomthecodesaremaintained。Severalinstancesofthishavealreadybeennoticed:andthegeneralfact，whichhasbeenmuchdweltuponbyUtilitarianwriters，isalsoadmittedandevenemphasisedbytheiropponents。ThusDugaldStewartlaysstressontheextenttowhichthemoraljudgmentsofmankindhavebeenmodifiedby``thediversityintheirphysicalcircumstances’’，the``unequaldegreesofcivilisationwhichtheyhaveattained’’，and``theirunequalmeasuresofknowledgeorofcapacity’’。Hepointsout，forinstance，thattheftisregardedasaveryvenialoffenceintheSouthSeaIslanders，becauselittleornolabouristhererequiredtosupportlife；thatthelendingofmoneyforinterestiscommonlyreprehendedinsocietieswherecommerceisimperfectlydeveloped，becausethe`usurer’insuchcommunitiesiscommonlyintheodiouspositionofwringingagainoutofthehardnecessitiesofhisfellows；andthatwherethelegalarrangementsforpunishingcrimeareimperfect，privatemurderiseitherjustifiedorregardedveryleniently。Manyotherexamplesmightbeaddedtotheseifitwereneedful。ButIconceivethatfewpersonswhohavestudiedthesubjectwilldenythatthereisacertaindegreeofcorrelationbetweenthevariationsinthemoralcodefromagetoage，andthevariationsintherealorperceivedeffectsongeneralhappinessofactionsprescribedorforbiddenbythecode。Andinproportionastheapprehensionofconsequencesbecomesmorecomprehensiveand