An ethical system based on the laws of nature / by M. Deshumbert ; translated from the French by Lionel Giles.

  • Deshumbert, Marius, 1856-
Date:
1917
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: An ethical system based on the laws of nature / by M. Deshumbert ; translated from the French by Lionel Giles. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    18/252 (page 2)
    cases, not knowing what is best for ourselves, how can we positively know what would be best for others ? Confucius also said: ‘‘ Return justice for in- justice and good for good.” (Lun Yu, chap. xiv. art. 36.) Lao Tzt, his contemporary, goes further. He says: “‘ To the good I would be good ; to those who are not good I would also be good, in order to make them good.” (Tao Té Ching, chap. xlix.) But what is good, and what is evil ? It is not enough to say: ‘ Do what is right, refrain from that which is wrong.” It is necessary to specify what these words mean. Where shall we find fixed and certain rules? If a man looks into his own heart, and asks himself this question, will he there find the “ Law”? Will his insight be sufficient ? Unfortunately not. Is conscience a safe guide and can we follow it blindly? Not always. For conscience is the result of atavism, heredity, education, acquired habits, example, and the surroundings in which we evolve. Necessarily, therefore, it varies according to the period, country, profession, and social position of the individual. And even in the same individual, conscience is far from being constant during his whole life. The conscience of a child is not that of a youth; and the latter differs from that of a man in his prime, which, in its turn, is not identical with that of the aged. There are even instances of conscience having led men to commit horrible crimes. We know that amongst many savage tribes it is the duty of the son to kill his father as soon as old age begins to show its weakening influence on the physical condition of the latter. With these communities it is an article of belief that the dead