| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from Philebus by Plato: Lastly, if we turn to the history of ethics, we shall find that our moral
ideas have originated not in utility but in religion, in law, in
conceptions of nature, of an ideal good, and the like. And many may be
inclined to think that this conclusively disproves the claim of utility to
be the basis of morals. But the utilitarian will fairly reply (see above)
that we must distinguish the origin of ethics from the principles of them--
the historical germ from the later growth of reflection. And he may also
truly add that for two thousand years and more, utility, if not the
originating, has been the great corrective principle in law, in politics,
in religion, leading men to ask how evil may be diminished and good
increased--by what course of policy the public interest may be promoted,
|
The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from Moral Emblems by Robert Louis Stevenson: The untended dead, the Tropic sun -
The thunder of the murderous gun -
The cut-throat crew - the Captain's curse -
The tempest blustering worse and worse -
These have I known and these can stand,
But you - I settle out of hand!'
Out flashed the cutlass, down went Ben
Dead and rotten, there and then.
Poem: II - THE BUILDER'S DOOM
In eighteen-twenty Deacon Thin
Feu'd the land and fenced it in,
|
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from The Mansion by Henry van Dyke: "Where are you going?"
"To the heavenly city, to see our mansions there."
"And who are these with you?"
"Strangers to me, until a little while ago; I know them better
now.
But you I have known for a long time, John Weightman. Don't you
remember
your old doctor?"
"Yes," he cried--"yes; your voice has not changed at all.
I'm glad indeed to see you, Doctor McLean, especially now.
All this seems very strange to me, almost oppressive.
|
