So far all our steps have been supported by the firm rock of
experience. But at this point it fails us, and the solid earth sinks
from under our feet, as we press forward in our search after a final
theoretical satisfaction, there, where no experience can ever by any
possibility penetrate; and happy shall we be, if perchance we gain
one hint, one transient gleam, that may bring us a certain measure
of content. What, however, shall not desert us is the honesty that
has hitherto attended our procedure. We shall not make shift with
dreams, and serve up fairy tales, after the fashion of the so-called
post-Kantian philosophers; nor shall we, like them, seek, by a wordy
exuberance, to impose upon the reader, and cast dust in his eyes. A
little is all we promise; but that little will be presented in perfect
sincerity.
The principle, which we discovered to be the final explanation of
Ethics, now in turn itself requires explaining; so that our present
problem has to deal with that natural Compassion, which in every man
is innate and indestructible, and which has been shown to be the sole
source of =non-egoistic= conduct, this kind alone being of real
moral worth. Now many modern thinkers treat the conceptions of Good
and Bad as =simple=, that is, as neither needing, nor admitting
any elucidation, and then they go on, for the most part, to talk very
mysteriously and devoutly of an "Idea of the Good," out of which
they make a pedestal for their moral system, or at least a cloak for
their poverty.[1] Hence I am obliged in this connection to point out
parenthetically, that these conceptions are anything but =simple=,
much less _a priori_; that they in fact express a relation, and are
derived from the commonest daily experience. Whatever is in conformity
with the desires of any individual will, is, relatively to it, termed
=good=; for instance, good food, good roads, a good omen; the
contrary is called =bad=, and, in the case of living beings,
=malicious=. And so one, who by virtue of his character, has
no wish to oppose what others strive after, but rather, as far as
he reasonably may, shows himself favourable and helpful to them;
one, who, instead of injuring, assists his neighbours, and promotes
their interests, when he can; is named by the latter, in respect to
themselves, a =good man=; the term =good= being applied to
him in the sense of the above definition, and from their own point of
view, which is thus relative, empirical, and centred in the passive
subject. Now, if we examine the nature of such a man, not only as it
affects others, but as it is in itself, we are enabled by the foregoing
exposition to perceive that the virtues of justice and loving-kindness,
which he practises, are due to a direct participation in weal and
woe external to himself; and we have learnt that the source of such
participation is Compassion. If, further, we pause to consider what is
the essential part in this type of character, we shall certainly find