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Untitled Article
merely of the present state , but of the history , the origin and progress of tlie rporal sense will lead us to the conclusion , that it results from the general constitution of our rational and intellectual nature , in consequence of which we are able to compare together different objects of pursuit , in respect of their value and influence on our happiness , and also to judge of the adapta- ** tion of different modes of conduct as means for the attainment of these
objects * Such is the wisdom of Providence in arranging the circumstances of our present lot , so as to promote our moral education , that in a state oi society in any tolerable measure favourable to the development of th £ human understanding , it is next to impossible that dispositions on the whole favourable " to virtue should not be generated . But these dispositions can , in ho proper sense of the word , be represented as an original part of our constitution , since they arise from the influence of external circumstances . It might as well be maintained that the truths of arithmetic and geometry are a part of our nature , because all men who have come to the age and use of reason have formed the same conclusions on these subjects .
While the general uniformity observable in the moral feelings and principles of men in all ages and nations is strongly insisted on by those who represent them as forming a part of our original constitution , the equally remarkable diversity of opinion with respect to the morality of particular actions has been alleged , on the other hand , as a proof that they are to be referred to education and experience .
" In order to form a competent judgment on fkcts of this nature , it is necessary , " says Mr . Stewart , ( p . 176 , ) " to attend to a variety of considerations which have been too frequentl y overlooked by philosophers , and in particular to make proper allowances tor the three following : —1 . For the different situations in which mankind are placed , partly by the diversity in their
physical circumstances , and partly by the unequal degrees of civilization which they have attained . 2 . For the diversity of their speculative opinions , arising from their unequal measures of knowledge or of capacity ; and 3 . For the different moral import of the same action under different systems of external behaviour /'
In illustrating these positions , Mr . Stewart has collected , with his usual diligence , a great variety of curious and interesting facts . They are valuable in themselves , ( though it should be observed that they are not all of equal authenticity , ) but they can scarcely be admitted as bearing upon the question , if that question be one upon which two opinions can be seriously maintained . If , as has already been stated , the thing to be proved is merely that the human mind is so constituted that men are led , in the course of their
education , to form in a considerable degree the same notions of moral distinctions , it is done ; but then this was never called in question . All men believe that human nature all over the world is fundamentally the same , though variously influenced by a multitude of circumstances , such as climate , religion , civil policy , the more or less extensive diffusion of knowledge , &c ; and hence they infer , what experience testifies , that in the views of mankind upon points of practical morality , there will be a considerable similarity ,
diversified by a variety of accidental causes . The facts enumerated by Mr . Stewart , supposing them all to be received with the credit which some of them deserve , cannot be admitted as proving any more than this . They serve the purpose certainly for which they were adduced , of illustrating the - causes of diversity here stated in our moral judgments and sentiments ; but we are not aware that the philosophers to whom our author opposes himself have ever shewn any indisposition to make the due allowance for these causes .
Untitled Article
34 Dugald Stetvark
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Jan. 2, 1829, page 34, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2568/page/34/
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