JB/149/361/001

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O Only in so far as it produces happiness or misery
can an act be properly called virtuous or vicious. Virtue &
vice are but useless qualities unless estimated by their
influence on the creation of pleasure and pain. They are
fictitious entities spoken of as real for the purposes of
discourse, and without fictions of this character, on subjects
such as these discussions could hardly be carried on. The
applications of the principle of utility will alone enable
us to discover whether deceptive impressions are conveyed
by the employment of the terms: and it will be found on a
close examination that virtue and vice are but representative,
of two qualities — namely, Prudence and effective Benevolence,
and their contraries, — with the different modifications springing
out of them, and which regard ourselves primarily, and next
all besides ourselves.

P Principle is a term in frequent use to express moral
qualities — a man of principle — a man of no principle — a man
of bad principles. What is the meaning of the phrase. What is
the ground of the estimation in which the man is held who
obtains the benefit of a reputation for acting on principle?
It is that he is supposed to have laid down for himself a
certain rule of conduct, and acts constantly and steadily
in conformity to it. This even were indeed well if his rule of
conduct were a good rule — if its end and object be the
general well-being — but supposing his rule of conduct
to be a bad rule — that it has not for its object the
general well being — surely he is entitles to no
approbation. A man is said to act habitually on
principle who unswervingly pursues his own course notwithstanding
all solicitations to the contrary. These solicitations
are temptations administered — in the shape of
pleasures to be immediately enjoyed and pains to be immediately
avoided — and undoubtedly he will have learnt
to to master these solicitations
in proportion as he has proved himself able to forego these
pleasures and to suffer these pains. But if his resistance be

Identifier: | JB/149/361/001 "JB/" can not be assigned to a declared number type with value 149.
Date_1		Marginal Summary Numbering
Box	149	Main Headings
Folio number	361	Info in main headings field
Image	001	Titles	o / p
Category	copy/fair copy sheet	Number of Pages	1
Recto/Verso	recto	Page Numbering
Penner		Watermarks	i m & co 1831
Marginals		Paper Producer
Corrections		Paper Produced in Year	1831
Notes public		ID Number	50215
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