The Nature of Goodness

The Nature of Goodness

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Title: The Nature of Goodness
Author: George Herbert Palmer
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THE NATURE OF GOODNESS
BY
GEORGE HERBERT PALMER Alford Professor of Philosophy In
Harvard University
[Illustration: Tout bien ou rien]

1903

A. F. P.
BONITATE SINGULARI MULTIS DILECTAE
VENUSTATE LITTERIS CONSILIIS PRAESTANTI
NUPER E DOMO ET GAUDIO MEO EREPTAE

PREFACE
The substance of these chapters was delivered as a course of lectures at
Harvard University, Dartmouth and Wellesley Colleges, Western
Reserve University, the University of California, and the Twentieth
Century Club of Boston. A part of the sixth chapter was used as an
address before the Phi Beta Kappa Society of Harvard, and another part
before the Philosophical Union of Berkeley, California. Several of
these audiences have materially aided my work by their searching
criticisms, and all have helped to clear my thought and simplify its
expression. Since discussions necessarily so severe have been felt as
vital by companies so diverse, I venture to offer them here to a wider
audience.
Previously, in "The Field of Ethics," I marked out the place which
ethics occupies among the sciences. In this book the first problem of

ethics is examined. The two volumes will form, I hope, an easy yet
serious introduction to this gravest and most perpetual of studies.

CONTENTS

CHAPTER I
THE DOUBLE ASPECT OF GOODNESS
I. Difficulties of the investigation II. Gains to be expected III. Extrinsic
goodness IV. Imperfections of extrinsic goodness V. Intrinsic goodness
VI. Relations of the two kinds VII. Diagram
CHAPTER II
MISCONCEPTIONS OF GOODNESS
I. Enlargement of the diagram II. Greater and lesser good III. Higher
and lower good IV. Order and wealth V. Satisfaction of desire VI.
Adaptation to environment VII. Definitions
CHAPTER III
SELF-CONSCIOUSNESS
I. The four factors of personal goodness II. Unconsciousness III. Reflex
action IV. Conscious experience V. Self-consciousness VI. Its degrees
VII. Its acquisition VIII. Its instability
CHAPTER IV
SELF-DIRECTION
I. Consciousness a factor II. (A) The intention III. (1) The end, aim, or
ideal IV. (2) Desire V. (3) Decision VI. (B) The volition VII. (1)
Deliberation VIII. (2) Effort IX. (3) Satisfaction
CHAPTER V

SELF-DEVELOPMENT
I. Reflex influence of self-direction II. Varieties of change III.
Accidental change IV. Destructive change V. Transforming change VI.
Development VII. Self-development VIII. Method of self-development
IX. Test of self-development X. Actual extent of personality XI.
Possible extent of personality XII. Practical consequences
CHAPTER VI
SELF-SACRIFICE
I. Difficulties of the conception II. It is impossible III. It is a sign of
degradation IV. It is needless V. It is irrational VI. Its frequency VII.
Definition VIII. Its rationality IX. Distinguished from culture X. Its
self-assertion XI. Its incalculability XII. Its positive character XIII.
Conclusion
CHAPTER VII
NATURE AND SPIRIT
I. Summary of the preceding argument II. Spirit superior to nature III.
Naturalistic tendency of the fine arts IV. Naturalistic tendency of
science and philosophy V. Naturalism in social estimates VI.
Self-consciousness burdensome VII. Impossibility of full conscious
guidance VIII. Advantages of unconscious action
CHAPTER VIII
THE THREE STAGES OF GOODNESS
I. Advantage of conscious guidance II. Example of piano-playing III.
The mechanization of conduct IV. Contrast of the first and third stages
V. The cure for self-consciousness VI. The revision of habits VII. The
doctrine of praise VIII. The propriety of praise

I
THE DOUBLE ASPECT OF GOODNESS
In undertaking the following discussion I foresee two grave difficulties.
My reader may well feel that goodness is already the most familiar of
all the thoughts we employ, and yet he may at the same time suspect
that