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275 Action
No man can have opened his eyes upon the events of every
day without perceiving how constantly the occasions occur in
which the benevolent man person is placed in advantageous contrast
to the unbenevolent. No man but has may have remarked at how
small a sacrifice of self, some persons win the good
affections of others – and find occasions for the exercise of
friendly sympathies, – which either wholly escape the attention
or the regard of minds less happily constituted or less
virtuously trained.
You are travelling, for example, in a public
carriage shut up with others – & mutually dependent
for the pleasures or annoyances of your position. Now
watch how many subjects of contention may arise.
Shall the windows, – one or both, be shut or open? One
man (the least benevolent)will shut or open them in
spite of the remonstrances of all the rest. On that occasion
as far as that act was is concerned his maleficence would
be maximized – another man would do so against
the remonstrances of one passenger – the others continuing
silent – a third would do so without having heard or
consulted the opinions of the others. The line of true
morality, – as of genuine courtesy would be to consult
the majority, – & if in an individual case there were any
special cause of annoyance or gratification from
the opening or shutting the window – to state that case for the
consideration of the rest. But But suppose the rest were
unreasonable? It is a rare case – but it would still be
more for the interest of the reasonable person to give way.
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Identifier: | JB/015/589/001 "JB/" can not be assigned to a declared number type with value 15.
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015 |
deontology |
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589 |
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001 |
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linking material |
1 |
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recto |
f275 |
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sir john bowring |
hall |
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louis francois joseph le dieu |
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5805 |
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