An Introductory Study of Ethics

Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: CHAPTER V HEDONISTIC SOCIAL THEORY 1. SOCIAL THEORY AND ETHICS We have now to study the application of hedonistic theory to social relations. It will be clear at the outset that such relations have a direct bearing upon the question of conduct. For, whether we wish it or not, we find ourselves living in...
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Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: CHAPTER V HEDONISTIC SOCIAL THEORY 1. SOCIAL THEORY AND ETHICS We have now to study the application of hedonistic theory to social relations. It will be clear at the outset that such relations have a direct bearing upon the question of conduct. For, whether we wish it or not, we find ourselves living in the company of our fellow-men, with the result that our welfare is to some extent determined by their actions, while theirs, in turn, is determined by our own actions. There is nothing that a man can do which will not in some way affect his neighbours; his mere presence in the world, involving, as it does, the occupation of a certain place as a dwelling and the consumption of a certain amount of food, has its effect in determining for others the place where they may dwell and the food that they may eat. Now it is recognized by all forms of ethical theory, as well as by common sense, that duty demands some attention to the welfare of society. The question arises then as to the motive and the extent of this aspect of duty. What motive has the individual for considering the welfare of society? And how far should he consider the welfare of society as distinct from his own welfare as an individual ? This question, it will be seen, leads directly to the broader question of social relations in general: what are the motives or forces that determine the relations of men in society and make them work together for the common good? The reply of hedonism to these questions will be the subject of the present chapter. 2. THE HEDONISTIC MOTIVE FOR SOCIAL EFFORT According to the later hedonists my immediate motive for considering the welfare of society is a feeling of sympathy with the aims of my fellow-men, ? a feeling which is so much a part of my nature that I tend' spontaneously ...