第75章

Now，insofarasUtilitarianmoralitycoincideswiththatofCommonSense——aswehaveseenthatitdoesinthemain——thisinvestigationhasbeenpartlyperformedinchap。v。ofBookii。Itthereappearedthatwhileinanytolerablestateofsocietytheperformanceofdutiestowardsothersandtheexerciseofsocialvirtuesseemgenerallylikelytocoincidewiththeattainmentofthegreatestpossiblehappinessinthelongrunforthevirtuousagent，stilltheuniversalityandcompletenessofthiscoincidenceareatleastincapableofempiricalproof:andthat，indeed，themorecarefullyweanalyseandestimatethedifferentsanctions——Legal，Social，andConscientious——consideredasoperatingundertheactualconditionsofhumanlife，themoredifficultitseemstobelievethattheycanbealwaysadequatetoproducethiscoincidence。

ThenaturaleffectofthisargumentuponaconvincedUtilitarianismerelytomakehimanxioustoaltertheactualconditionsofhumanlife:anditwouldcertainlybeamostvaluablecontributiontotheactualhappinessofmankind，ifwecouldsoimprovetheadjustmentofthemachineofLawinanysociety，andsostimulateanddirectthecommonawardsofpraiseandblame，andsodevelopandtrainthemoralsenseofthemembersofthecommunity，astorenderitclearlyprudentforeveryindividualtopromoteasmuchaspossiblethegeneralgood。However，wearenotnowconsideringwhataconsistentUtilitarianwilltrytoeffectforthefuture，butwhataconsistentEgoististodointhepresent。Anditmustbeadmittedthat，asthingsare，whateverdifferenceexistsbetweenUtilitarianmoralityandthatofCommonSenseisofsuchakindastorenderthecoincidencewithEgoismstillmoreimprobableinthecaseoftheformer。ForwehaveseenthatUtilitarianismismorerigidthanCommonSenseinexactingthesacrificeoftheagent’sprivateinterestswheretheyareincompatiblewiththegreatesthappinessofthegreatestnumber:andofcourseinsofarastheUtilitarian’sprinciplesbringhimintoconflictwithanyofthecommonlyacceptedrulesofmorality，thewholeforceoftheSocialSanctionoperatestodeterhimfromwhatheconceivestobehisduty。

Thereare，however，writersoftheUtilitarianschoolwhoseemtomaintainorimply，thatbyduecontemplationoftheparamountimportanceofSympathyasanelementofhumanhappinessweshallbeledtoseethecoincidenceofthegoodofeachwiththegoodofall。Inopposingthisview，Iamasfaraspossiblefromanywishtodepreciatethevalueofsympathyasasourceofhappinesseventohumanbeingsasatpresentconstituted。IndeedIamofopinionthatitspleasuresandpainsreallyconstituteagreatpartofthatinternalrewardofsocialvirtue，andpunishmentofsocialmisconduct，whichinBookii。chap。v。Iroughlysetdownasduetothemoralsentiments。For，infact，thoughIcantosomeextentdistinguishsympatheticfromstrictlymoralfeelingsinintrospectiveanalysisofmyownconsciousness，Icannotsaypreciselyinwhatproportionthesetwoelementsarecombined。Forinstance:Iseemabletodistinguishthe``senseoftheignobilityofEgoism’’ofwhichIhavebeforespoken——which，inmyview，isthenormalemotionalconcomitantorexpressionofthemoralintuitionthattheGoodofthewholeisreasonablytobepreferredtotheGoodofapart——fromthejarofsympatheticdiscomfortwhichattendstheconsciouschoiceofmyownpleasureattheexpenseofpainorlosstoothers；

butIfinditimpossibletodeterminewhatforcetheformersentimentwouldhaveifactuallyseparatedfromthelatter，andIaminclinedtothinkthatthetwokindsoffeelingareveryvariouslycombinedindifferentindividuals。Perhaps，indeed，wemaytraceagenerallawofvariationintherelativeproportionofthesetwoelementsasexhibitedinthedevelopmentofthemoralconsciousnessbothintheraceandinindividuals；foritseemsthatatacertainstageofthisdevelopmentthemindismoresusceptibletoemotionsconnectedwithabstractmoralideasandrulespresentedasabsolute；whileafteremergingfromthisstageandbeforeenteringitthefeelingsthatbelongtopersonalrelationsarestronger。CertainlyinaUtilitarian’smindsympathytendstobecomeaprominentelementofallinstinctivemoralfeelingsthatrefertosocialconduct；asinhisviewtherationalbasisofthemoralimpulsemustultimatelylieinsomepleasurewonorpainsavedforhimselforforothers；sothatheneverhastosacrificehimselftoanImpersonalLaw，butalwaysforsomebeingorbeingswithwhomhehasatleastsomedegreeoffellow-feeling。

Butbesidesadmittingtheactualimportanceofsympatheticpleasurestothemajorityofmankind，Ishouldgofurtherandmaintainthat，onempiricalgroundsalone，enlightenedself-interestwoulddirectmostm