The origin and development of the moral ideasWestermarck, Edward
Philosophy
The origin and development of the moral ideas
Westermarck, Edward
Ethics; Ethics -- History; Prehistoric peoples
Why in early moral codes the so-called negative commandments are much
more prominent than the positive commandments, p. 303.--The little
cognisance which the criminal laws of civilised nations take of
forbearances and omissions, p. 303 _sq._--The more scrutinising the
moral consciousness, the greater the importance which it attaches to
positive commandments, p. 304 _sq._--Yet the customs of all nations
contain not only prohibitions, but positive injunctions as well, p.
305.--The unreflecting mind apt to exaggerate the guilt of a person
who out of heedlessness or rashness causes harm by a positive act,
_ibid._--Early custom and law may be anxious enough to trace an event
to its source, pp. 305-307.--But they easily fail to discover where
there is guilt or not, and, in case of carelessness, to determine the
magnitude of the offender's guilt, p. 307 _sq._--The opinion that a
person is answerable for all the damage which directly ensues from an
act of his, even though no foresight could have reasonably been
expected to look out for it, p. 308 _sq._--On the other hand, little
or no censure passed on him whose want of foresight or want of
self-restraint is productive of suffering, if only the effect is
sufficiently remote, p. 309 _sq._--The moral emotions may as naturally
give rise to judgments on human character as to judgments on human
conduct, p. 310.--Even when a moral judgment immediately refers to a
distinct act, it takes notice of the agent's will as a whole, p. 310
_sq._--The practice of punishing a second or third offence more
severely than the first, p. 311 _sq._--The more a moral judgment is
influenced by reflection, the more it scrutinises the character which
manifests itself in that individual piece of conduct by which the
judgment is occasioned, p. 312 _sq._--But however superficial it be,
it always refers to a will conceived of as a continuous entity, p. 313.
CHAPTER XIII
WHY MORAL JUDGMENTS ARE PASSED ON CONDUCT AND CHARACTER--MORAL
VALUATION AND FREE-WILL
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