Next, it perceives that whatever gives pleasure to itself is called _good_
and _right_, while whatever causes unpleasant feelings is called _bad_ and
_wrong_. Moreover, it notices that there is a right and wrong way to hold
its spoon, to use its playthings, to put on its clothes, and to do
multitudes of other things. It thus perceives, more and more, that there
are _rules_ to regulate the use and action of all things, both animate and
inanimate, and that such rules always have reference to some plan or
design.
As its faculties develop and its observation enlarges, the general
impression is secured that _all_ plans and contrivances of men are
designed to promote enjoyment or to prevent discomfort, and are called
good and right just so far as this is done. At the same time, all that
tend to discomfort or pain are called bad and wrong.
In all the works of nature around, too, every thing that promotes
enjoyment is called good and right, and the opposite is called evil and
wrong.
At last there is a resulting feeling that the great design of all things
is to secure good and prevent evil, and that whatever is opposed to this
is wrong, and unfitted to the object for which all things exist. The
question whether this impression is owing solely to observation or partly
to mental constitution is waived, as of little practical consequence.
In the experience of infancy and childhood, the _law of sacrifice_ is
speedily developed. It is perceived that much of the good to be gained, if
sought to excess, occasions pain, so that there must be a certain amount
of self‐denial practiced, which, to the young novice, sometimes involves
disappointment and discomfort. It is also seen that frequently two or more
enjoyments are offered which are incompatible, so that one must be
relinquished to gain the other. It is perceived, also, that there is a
constant calculation going on as to which will be the _best_—that is,
which will secure _the most good with the least evil_. And the child is
constantly instructed that it must avoid excess, and must give up what is
of less value to secure the greater good. All this training involves
_sacrifices_ which are more or less painful, so that a young child will
sometimes cry as it voluntarily gives up one kind of pleasure as the only
mode of securing what is best.
It is perceived, also, that there is a constant _balancing_ of good and
evil, so that a given amount of enjoyment cancels or repays for a certain
amount of evil. When a great amount of enjoyment is purchased by a small
degree of labor or trouble, the _compound result_ is deemed a good, and
called right; on the contrary, when the evil involved exceeds a given
amount in comparison to the good, the compound result is called evil and
wrong.
Thus is generated the impression that there is a law of sacrifice
instituted requiring the greatest possible good with the least possible
evil, and that this is the great design of all things.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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