On the Ethics of NaturalismSorley, W. R. (William Ritchie)
Philosophy
On the Ethics of Naturalism
Sorley, W. R. (William Ritchie)
Ethics; Ethics, Evolutionary
To a large extent this distinction of two classes of impulses is
justified. There seems no doubt that the social, and what are usually
termed moral, feelings have a tendency to return into consciousness
after any temporary depression or exclusion, which is not shared
by some of the feelings with which they most commonly conflict.
Other impulses, not usually classed as moral, no doubt share this
characteristic of persistency or recurrence. "The wish for another
man's property," says Darwin, "is as persistent a desire as any that
can be named." The selfish feelings have obviously this persistent
character. But an evolutionist may perhaps maintain that it is one
of the defects of ordinary moral opinion that it depreciates the
necessity and value for life of the selfish feelings, just because
they are so strong as to stand in need of no encouragement. And it
is not necessary that the evolutionist morality should agree at all
points with ordinary moral opinion or moral intuition. It recognises,
or ought to recognise the agency of immoral as well as moral forces,
admitting that it is by the action of both of these that man as he is
at present has been produced, although the principle of the survival
of the fittest has tended, though by no means uniformly, towards the
elimination of the immoral factor. We may admit, therefore, that
there is a pressure on the will of the average individual towards
certain kinds of conduct rather than others, or, put more precisely,
that while all acts are performed in consequence of pressure on the
will, the pressure towards certain kinds of acts is a permanent force
which, although overcome for the time, always tends to reassert
itself, while the tendency towards other acts inconsistent with these
is more intermittent and variable, and does not reassert itself
in the same way. But this subjective experience is so limited in
accuracy and extent as to be an unfit test of morality.
[Sidenote: is restricted to previous habits of acting,]
[Sidenote: and cannot define nature of morality.]
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