With Free Will responsibility also disappears. That is obvious. But that
means a collapse only for theological Morality. Scientific ethics can
manage very well without responsibility. Nay, more; there is no room in
it for this concept. In the system of theological Morality
responsibility has a transcendental significance. To sum up once more
shortly what has been dealt with in detail above: according to this
system Morality is a divine command, obedience to, or disregard of which
results in salvation or damnation; in order that reward and punishment
may be just, one as well as the other must be merited; that implies the
assumption that virtue is practised or vice chosen intentionally and
with forethought; but this mode of action must be freely willed if man
is to be responsible for it before his divine Judge.
Scientific ethics knows nothing of this supernatural dream. In its view
Morality is an immanent phenomenon which occurs only within humanity--or
to define it more accurately, within humanity organized as a society.
It arose from a definite necessity; from the undeniable need of men to
unite, so as to be able, in company with one another, shoulder to
shoulder, to succeed more easily, or indeed to succeed at all, in the
struggle for existence which is too hard for the solitary individual. It
has a clearly recognizable aim: to teach man to curb his selfish
instincts and to practise consideration for his neighbour, by which
means alone peaceable life in common and productive co-operation are
possible. The instinct of self-preservation supplies society with the
laws of Morality which it imperiously imposes on all its members, and
unconditional obedience to which it demands. Society does not dream of
saying to the individual: "You are free; you must yourself decide
whether you will follow the path of virtue or that of vice." On the
contrary, it says to him: "Whether you wish it or not, you must do that
which my doctrine of Morality indicates as good and eschew that which it
declares to be evil. You have no choice. I tolerate you in my midst only
if you submit to the laws of Morality. If you transgress them I shall
draw your teeth and claws or destroy you altogether." By discipline
lasting many thousands of years society has developed in the individual,
though not in all, an organ that watches that his conduct is moral, and
this is the conscience. But this is only supplementary to, and
representative of, society, which in the main exercises police
supervision itself, and sees that in general the moral law is obeyed. It
judges all the actions of the individual that come to its knowledge.
Conscience only is the competent authority where occurrences are
concerned which take place simply in the consciousness of the
individual, and which he alone is aware of. Conscience is only too often
a lenient judge who acquits the individual too easily and nearly always
admits extenuating circumstances. Society does not let him off so
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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