[Moral Science; A Compendium of Ethics by Alexander Bain]@TWC D-Link bookMoral Science; A Compendium of Ethics CHAPTER I 2/11
As regards Obligatory Morality, this seems at first sight an identical proposition; morality is another name for law and sovereignty.
In the view of Hobbes, however, the sovereign should be a single person, of absolute authority, humanly irresponsible, and irremoveable; a type of sovereignty repudiated by civilized nations. 3.
It has been held, in various phraseology, that a certain _fitness_, suitability, or propriety in actions, as determined by our Understanding or Reason, is the ultimate test.
"When a man keeps his word, there is a certain congruity or consistency between the action and the occasion, between the making of a promise and its fulfilment; and wherever such congruity is discernible, the action is right." This is the view of Cudworth, Clarke, and Price.
It may be called the Intellectual or Rational theory. A special and more abstract form of the same theory is presented in the dictum of Kant--'act in such a way that your conduct might be a law to all beings.' 4.
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