The Map of Life - Conduct and Character

William Edward Hartpole Lecky

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• Publié par: fyom
• Publié le: 08 décembre 2010
• Nombre de lectures: 46
• Langue: English

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Map of Life, by William Edward
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Title: The Map of Life
Conduct and Character
Author: William Edward Hartpole Lecky
Release Date: August 16, 2008 [eBook #26334]
Language: English
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THE MAP OF LIFE
WORKS BY
The Rt. Hon. W. E. H. LECKY.
HISTORY of ENGLAND in the EIGHTEENTH CENTURY.
Library Edition. 8vo. Vols. I. and II. 1700-1760. 36s. Vols. III. and IV. 1760-1784.
36s. Vols. V. and VI. 1784-1793. 36s. Vols. VII. and VIII. 1793-1800. 36s.Cabinet Edition. England. 7 vols. Crown 8vo. 6s. each.
Ireland. 5 vols. Crown 8vo. 6s. each.
The HISTORY of EUROPEAN MORALS from AUGUSTUS to
CHARLEMAGNE.
2 vols. Crown 8vo. 12s.
HISTORY of the RISE and INFLUENCE of the SPIRIT of RATIONALISM in
EUROPE.
2 vols. Crown 8vo. 12s.
DEMOCRACY and LIBERTY.
Library Edition. 2 vols. 8vo. 36s.
Cabinet Edition. 2 vols. Crown 8vo. 12s.
THE MAP OF LIFE: Conduct and Character.
Library Edition. 8vo. 10s. 6d.
Cabinet Edition. Crown 8vo. 5s. net.
POEMS. Fcp. 8vo. 5s.
LONGMANS, GREEN, & CO.
39 Paternoster Row, London, and Bombay.
THE MAP OF LIFE
CONDUCT AND CHARACTER
BY
WILLIAM EDWARD HARTPOLE LECKY

'La vie n'est pas un plaisir ni une douleur, mais une affaire grave dont nous
sommes chargés, et qu'il faut conduire et terminer à notre honneur'
Tocqueville

NEW IMPRESSION

LONGMANS, GREEN, AND CO.39 PATERNOSTER ROW, LONDON
NEW YORK AND BOMBAY
1904
All rights reserved

BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE.
First printed, 8vo, September 1899. Reprinted November 1899; December
1899; January 1900 (with corrections). Cabinet Edition, Crown 8vo, February
1901. Reprinted December, 1902. July, 1904

[Pg v]CONTENTS
CHAPTER I
How far reasoning on happiness is of any use
The arguments of the Determinist
The arguments for free will
Securus judicat orbis terrarum
CHAPTER II
Happiness a condition of mind and often confused with the means of attaining it
Circumstances and character contribute to it in different degrees
Religion, Stoicism, and Eastern nations seek it mainly by acting on disposition
Sensational philosophies and industrial and progressive nations seek it chiefly
in improved circumstances
English character
Action of the body on happiness
Influence of predispositions in reasonings on life
Promotion of health by legislation, fashion and self-culture
Slight causes of life failures
Effects of sanitary reform
Diminished disease does not always imply a higher level of health
[Pg vi]Two causes depressing health
Encroachments on liberty in sanitary legislation
Sanitary education—its chief articles—its possible exaggeration
Constant thought about health not the way to attain it
CHAPTER III
Some general rules of happiness—1. A life full of work.—Happiness should not
be the main object of pursuit
Carlyle on Ennui2. Aim rather at avoiding suffering than attaining pleasure
3. The greatest pleasures and pains in spheres accessible to all
4. Importance and difficulty of realising our blessings while they last
Comparison and contrast
Content not the quality of progressive societies
The problem of balancing content and the desire for progress
What civilisation can do for happiness
CHAPTER IV
The relation of morals to happiness.—The Utilitarian justification of virtue
insufficient
Power of man to aim at something different from and higher than happiness
General coincidence of duty and happiness
The creation of unselfish interests one of the chief elements of happiness
Burke on a well-ordered life
Improvement of character more within our power than improvement of intellect
High moral qualities often go with low intellectual power
[Pg vii]Dangers attaching to the unselfish side of our nature.—Active charity
personally supervised least subject to abuse
Disproportioned compassion
Treatment of animals
CHAPTER V
Changes of morals chiefly in the proportionate value attached to different
virtues
Military, civic, and intellectual virtues
The mediæval type
Modifications introduced by Protestantism
Bossuet and Louis XIV.
Persecution.—Operations at childbirth.—Usury
Every great religion and philosophic system produces or favours a distinct
moral type
Variations in moral judgments
Complexity of moral influences of modern times.—The industrial type
Qualified by other influences
Unnecessary suffering
Goethe's exposition of modern morals
Morals hitherto too much treated negatively
Possibility of an over-sensitive conscience
Increased sense of the obligations of an active life
CHAPTER VI
In the guidance of life action more important than pure reasoning
The enforcement of active duty now specially needed
Temptations to luxurious idleness
Rectification of false ideals.—The conqueror
The luxury of ostentation
Glorification of the demi-monde
[Pg viii]Study of ideals
The human mind more capable of distinguishing right from wrong than of
measuring merit and demerit
Fallibility of moral judgments
Rules for moral judgmentCHAPTER VII
The school of Rousseau considers man by nature wholly good
Other schools maintain that he is absolutely depraved
Exaggerations of these schools
The restraining conscience distinctively human.—Comparison with the animals
Reality of human depravity.—Illustrated by war
Large amount of pure malevolence.—Political crime.—The press
Mendacity in finance
The sane view of human character
We learn with age to value restraints, to expect moderately and value
compromise
CHAPTER VIII
Moral compromise a necessity in life.—Statement of Newman
Impossibility of acting on it
Moral considerations though the highest must not absorb all others
Truthfulness—cases in which it may be departed from
Moral compromise in war
War necessarily stimulates the malevolent passions and practises
deception
Rights of war in early stages of civilisation
Distinction between Greeks and Barbarians
[Pg ix] Roman moralists insisted on just causes of war and on formal declaration
Treatment of prisoners.—Combatants and non-combatants
Treatment of private property
Lawful and unlawful methods of conducting war
Abdication by the soldier of private judgment and free will
Distinctions and compromises
Cases in which the military oath may be broken.—Illegal orders
Violation of religious obligations.—The Sepoy mutiny
The Italian conscript.—Fenians in the British army
CHAPTER IX
Moral compromise in the law
What advocates may and may not do
Inevitable temptations of the profession
Its condemnation by Swift, Arnold, Macaulay, Bentham
Its defence by Paley, Johnson, Basil Montagu
How far a lawyer may support a bad case.—St. Thomas Aquinas and
Catholic casuists
Sir Matthew Hale.—General custom in England
Distinction between the etiquette of prosecution and of defence
The case of Courvoisier
Statement of Lord Brougham
The license of cross-examination.—Technicalities defeating justice
Advantage of trial by jury
Necessity of the profession of advocate
Moral compromise in politics
Necessity of party
How far conscientious differences should impair party allegiance[Pg x] Lines of conduct adopted when such differences arise
Parliamentary obstruction
Moral difficulties inseparable from party
Evil of extreme view of party allegiance.—Government and the Opposition
Relations of members to their constituents
Votes given without adequate knowledge
Diminished power of the private member
CHAPTER X
THE STATESMAN
Duty of a statesman when the interests and wishes of his nation conflict
Nature and extent of political trusteeship
Temperance questions
Legitimate and illegitimate time-serving
Education questions
Inconsistency in politics—how far it should be condemned
The conduct of Peel in 1829 and 1845
The conduct of Disraeli in 1867
Different degrees of weight to be attached to party considerations
Temptations to war
Temptations of aristocratic and of democratic governments
Necessity of assimilating legislation
Legislation violating contracts.—Irish land legislation
Questions forced into prominence for party objects
The judgment of public servants who have committed indefensible acts
The French coup d'état of 1851
Judgments passed upon it
Probable multiplication of coups d'état
Governor Eyre