These are indeed extraordinarily vigorous sanctions, which, though they
fail to have any effect on the unbeliever, make a very deep impression
on the believer, and are well fitted to determine his actions. But they
imply a debasement of the motives for leading a moral life, which are no
longer the outcome of insight and a convinced desire for good, but the
result of fear and avidity, a speculation for profit, a prudent flight
from danger. The practice of morality becomes a safe investment for the
father of a family who hopes to find his savings augmented by interest
in the hereafter, and the avoidance of vice becomes a schoolboy's fear
of punishment. Nevertheless, the view is widely held by superficial,
practical men that these imaginary and deceptive sanctions of Morality
cannot be dispensed with, that only the fear of hell can keep the masses
from giving themselves up to every form of vice and crime, that only the
promise of paradise is capable of inducing them to act unselfishly and
make sacrifices, and that all bonds of discipline would be loosened if
they ceased to believe in a last judgment and an hereafter with its
rewards and punishments.
This whole system of sanctions in a future life is a transcendental
projection (according with primitive, childlike thought) of immanent
practices and forms in the positive administration of justice which are
transferred to a class of actions that successfully evade it.
Traditional and customary Law, as well as written Law, puts its whole
emphasis on sanctions; it partakes itself of the nature of a sanction.
Without sanctions it has no meaning. It is not kindly counsel, nor
fatherly admonition, nor wise advice, it is a stern command, it is
coercion, and this arouses only scorn if it is not armed with the means
to make itself a reality to which the unwilling must also submit,
because they cannot help themselves. There is no law, there can be no
law, which is not supplemented by arrangements that make it binding for
everyone.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account