第73章

Letusfirstrecallthedistinctionpreviouslynoticedbetweendutyascommonlyconceived，——thattowhichamanisboundorobliged——，andpraiseworthyorexcellentconduct；since，inconsideringtherelationofUtilitarianismtothemoraljudgmentsofCommonSense，itwillbeconvenienttobeginwiththeformerelementofcurrentmorality，asthemoreimportantandindispensable；i。e。withtheensembleofrulesimposedbycommonopinioninanysociety，whichformakindofunwrittenlegislation，supplementarytoLawproper，andenforcedbythepenaltiesofsocialdisfavourandcontempt。Thislegislation，asitdoesnotemanatefromadefinitebodyofpersonsactinginacorporatecapacity，cannotbealteredbyanyformaldeliberationsandresolutionsofthepersonsonwhoseconsensusitrests；anychangeinitmustthereforeresultfromtheprivateactionofindividuals，whetherdeterminedbyUtilitarianconsiderationsorotherwise。Asweshallpresentlysee，thepracticalUtilitarianproblemisliabletobecomplicatedbytheconflictanddivergencewhichisfoundtosomeextentinallsocietiesbetweenthemoralopinionsofdifferentsectionsofthecommunity:butitwillbeconvenienttoconfineourattentioninthefirstinstancetothecaseofrulesofdutyclearlysupportedby`commonconsent’。Letussupposethenthatafterconsideringtheconsequencesofanysuchrule，aUtilitariancomestotheconclusionthatadifferentrulewouldbemoreconducivetothegeneralhappiness，ifsimilarlyestablishedinasocietyremaininginotherrespectsthesameasatpresent——orinoneslightlydifferent(insofarasourforecastofsocialchangescanbemadesufficientlycleartofurnishanybasisforpractice)。Andfirstwewillsupposethatthisnewrulediffersfromtheoldonenotonlypositivelybutnegatively；thatitdoesnotmerelygobeyondandincludeit，butactuallyconflictswithit。Beforehecandecidethatitisrightforhim(i。e。conducivetothegeneralhappiness)

tosupportthenewruleagainsttheold，byexampleandprecept，heoughttoestimatetheforceofcertaindisadvantagesnecessarilyattendantuponsuchinnovations，whichmayconvenientlybearrangedunderthefollowingheads。

Inthefirstplace，ashisownhappinessandthatofothersconnectedwithhimformapartoftheuniversalendatwhichheaims，hemustconsidertheimportancetohimselfandthemofthepenaltiesofsocialdisapprobationwhichhewillincur:takingintoaccount，besidestheimmediatepainofthisdisapprobation，itsindirecteffectindiminishinghispowerofservingsocietyandpromotingthegeneralhappinessinotherways。Theprospectofsuchpainandlossis，ofcourse，notdecisiveagainsttheinnovation；sinceitmusttosomeextentberegardedastheregularpricethathastobepaidfortheadvantageofthiskindofreformincurrentmorality。Buthere，asinmanyUtilitariancalculations，everythingdependsonthequantityoftheeffectsproduced；whichinthecasesupposedmayvaryverymuch，fromslightdistrustanddisfavourtoseverecondemnationandsocialexclusion。Itoftenseemsthatbyattemptingchangeprematurelyaninnovatormayincurtheseverestformofthemoralpenalty，whereasifhehadwaitedafewyearshewouldhavebeenletoffwiththemildest。

Fortheholdwhichamoralrulehasoverthegeneralmindcommonlybeginstodecayfromthetimethatitisseentobeopposedtothecalculationsofexpediency:anditmaybebetterforthecommunityaswellasfortheindividualthatitshouldnotbeopenlyattacked，untilthisprocessofdecayhasreachedacertainpoint。

Itis，however，ofmoreimportancetopointoutcertaingeneralreasonsfordoubtingwhetheranapparentimprovementwillreallyhaveabeneficialeffectonothers。Itispossiblethatthenewrule，thoughitwouldbemorefelicificthantheoldone，ifitcouldgetitselfequallyestablished，maybenotsolikelytobeadopted，orifadopted，notsolikelytobeobeyed，bythemassofthecommunityinwhichitisproposedtoinnovate。Itmaybetoosubtleandrefined，ortoocomplexandelaborate:itmayrequireagreaterintellectualdevelopment，orahigherdegreeofself-control，thanistobefoundinanaveragememberofthecommunity，oranexceptionalqualityorbalanceoffeelings。Norcanitbesaidinreply，thatbythehypothesistheinnovator’sexamplemustbegoodtowhateverextentit，operates，sinceprotantoittendstosubstituteabetterruleforaworse。Forexperienceseemstoshowthatanexampleofthiskindismorelikelytobepotentnegativelythanpositively；thathere，aselsewhereinhumanaffairs，itiseasiertopulldownthantobuildup；easiertoweakenordestroytherestrainingforcethatamoralrule，habituallyandgenerallyobeyed，hasovermen’sminds，thantosubstituteforitanewrestraininghabit，notsimilarlysustainedbytraditionandcustom。Hencetheeffectofanexampleintrinsicallygoodmaybeonthewholebad，becauseitsdestructiveoperationprovestobemorevigorousthanitsconstructive。Andagain，suchdestructiveeffectmustbeconsiderednotonlyinrespectoftheparticularruleviolated，butofallotherru