] The delinquent is,
hence, judged guilty, not merely of derogation from his high estate, but
also of impiety. [Footnote: Ibid, ix, 1. ]
117. VAGUENESS OF THE LAW OF NATURE.--The question of the influence of
religious belief upon a theory of morals I shall discuss elsewhere.
[Footnote: See chapter xxxvi.] Here it is only necessary to point out
that, if there is vagueness in the appeal to human nature, it can
scarcely be dissipated satisfactorily by simply turning to Nature in a
broader sense. Shall we, when in doubt as to human behavior, copy that of
the brutes? The industry of some humble creatures it seems edifying to
dwell upon; but from the fact that bees are stung to death by their
sisters in the hive, or that the spider is given to devouring her mate,
we can hardly draw a moral lesson for man.
The appeal to a Law of Nature so often made in the history of ethical
speculation has furnished but a vague and elusive norm. He who makes it
is apt to fall back upon the moral intuitions with which he is furnished,
and to pack a greater or less number of them into his notion of Natural
Law.
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