Chapter 14 Book V: The Influence of Habit and Morality on the Feelings of Moral Approval and Disapproval

Book V Influence of Habit and Morality on the Feelings of Approval and Disapproval Concerning Morals There are others besides the principle of which sentiment has a great influence, and which has been the chief cause of the many irregular and inconsistent views prevailing in different ages and countries as to what is to blame or to praise.These principles are custom and manners, and they are the principles that govern our judgments of beauty of all kinds. If people often see two objects at the same time, their imagination will form a habit of quickly associating from one object to another.If the former occurs, we expect the latter to follow.They actively associate us with each other, and our attention tends to change with them.Though there is no real beauty in their connection apart from the influence of custom, yet, if custom has so united the two, their separation would seem improper to us.If the former does not follow the latter as it usually does, we consider it confusing.We don't see what we expect to see, and our habitual thinking is disturbed by this disappointment.For example, if a set of clothes lacks the small decorations that are usually connected together, it seems that something is missing, even a waist button is missing, and we will feel uncomfortable or awkward.If there is some natural propriety in their connection, custom heightens our sense of it, and makes different arrangements more unpleasant.Those who are accustomed to see things with a certain noble taste are more disgusted by anything that is mediocre or ugly.Where that connection is inappropriate, habit either diminishes, or eliminates all our sense of inappropriateness.Those accustomed to untidiness and disorder lose all sense of neatness or elegance.A pattern of furniture or dress which may seem ridiculous to a stranger excites no resentment from those accustomed to them.

Ethos is different from habit, or rather it is a particular kind of habit.That ethos is not that of everyone, but that of those of high rank or quality.The grace, ease, and majesty of great men, together with the rich luxury with which they usually dress, endow a charm to the gestures they happen to make.As long as they continue to adopt this gesture, in our imagination it will be associated with our idea of ​​something elegant and luxurious. Something elegant and luxurious.As soon as they get rid of this gesture, it loses all the charm it had had before, and is now only used by the inferior classes, and seems to have a certain mediocrity and ugliness about them.

All the world thinks that dress and furniture are wholly governed by custom and fashion.The influence of those principles, however, is by no means confined to such a narrow sphere, but extends to objects of interest in every respect--music, poetry, and architecture.Styles of clothing and furniture are constantly changing; and experience assures us that what was admired five years ago will appear ridiculous today, is largely or wholly due to the fads of custom and fashion.Clothes and furniture are not made of very strong materials.A well-designed coat takes 12 months to make, and its style can no longer be passed around as a fashionable style.The style of furniture does not change as quickly as that of clothing; for furniture is generally more durable.However, it generally undergoes a renewal every five or six years, and everyone will see furniture changing various popular styles in his life.Some other works of art are more permanent and, on an optimistic estimate, they are made in styles that will continue to be popular for a long time.A well-built house lasts for many centuries; a beautiful song is passed on orally for many generations; a well-written poem lasts forever; Or technique, popular for many years one after another.

Few had the opportunity to witness any significant change in the style of these artworks during his lifetime.Few men have so much experience and knowledge of the various styles prevailing in different ages and countries, that they can express complete satisfaction with them, or judge without prejudice between them and what is now occurring in their own country. Few, therefore, are willing to admit that custom or fashion has much influence on their judgments of what is beautiful or otherwise in any work of art; Reason and nature, not custom or prejudice.But with a little care they will be persuaded on the contrary, and convinced that custom and manners have as certain an influence on architecture, poetry, and music as on clothing and furniture.

For example, is there any reason for ascertaining that the height of the Doric capital is eight times the diameter, the coil of the Ionic capital is one ninth of the diameter, the Corinthian capital is Is it appropriate that the leaf decoration is one-tenth of the diameter?The propriety of these methods of construction can only be based on custom and custom.The eye, accustomed to a certain proportion in relation to an ornament, becomes uncomfortable when it sees a proportion which is out of harmony with the ornament.Each of the five orders has its particular ornamentation, which could not be replaced by any other without displeasing those who have an insight into the principles of architecture.Indeed, according to some architects, this was the exact judgment by which the ancients fixed the suitable ornament on each capital, and found no other equally suitable.However, though these forms are undoubtedly extremely agreeable, it is somewhat difficult to imagine that they are the only forms in proportion, or that there were not 500 equally suitable forms before the habit was formed.At any rate, after custom has formed the particular rules of buildings, if they are not unreasonable, it is desirable to use other rules that are only equally suitable, even more natural than the original laws from the point of view of elegance and beauty. It is absurd to modify them by other laws that are slightly better.A person appearing in public in an outfit different from what he is used to wearing, although the new clothes themselves are very elegant or well-fitting, will appear ridiculous.Likewise, after habits and customs have been established, it seems absurd to furnish a house in a manner so different from it, even if the new decoration is itself superior to the common one.

According to some of the rhetoricians of antiquity, just as the rhythms of certain poems were born to express that quality, feeling, or passion which ought to predominate in them, so they apply naturally to particular kinds of writing.One form of poetry, they say, is suitable for serious writing, and the other for light, and they think that the two cannot be interchanged without the greatest inappropriateness.Modern experience, however, seems to contradict this principle, although the principle itself seems to be quite plausible.In England it is satire, in France it is heroism.Racine's tragedy and Voltaire's Henriard write almost the same lines, "Let me make your advice a great thing." On the contrary, the French satire and the English decasyllabic heroic poem Equally wonderful.Habit makes one country associate serious, solemn, and earnest thoughts with a certain rhythm, and another country associates that rhyme with anything connected with pleasure, lightness, and absurdity.In England there is nothing more absurd than a tragedy written in French Alexandrine; in France nothing is more absurd than a similar work in decasyllabic verse.

A famous artist brings about major changes in established art forms and creates a new climate of writing, music, or architecture.As the dress of a popular upper class makes itself popular, and, however outlandish it may be, is soon admired and imitated; so a great master makes his features popular, and makes his The technique became a fashionable style in the art he was engaged in.Italian tastes in music and architecture changed dramatically during those fifty years, as a result of the imitation of some of the famous masters in the various arts of music and architecture.Seneca was accused by Quintilian of spoiling Roman taste and advocating frivolity in place of solemn reason and powerful eloquence.Sallust and Tacitus were accused of the same crime by others, though in different ways.They will confer false honors upon a style which, though most succinct, graceful, expressive, even poetic, yet lacks ease, simplicity, and naturalness, and is evidently the product of the most laborious and artificial.How many great qualities must a writer have to make his flaws into something popular?The highest praise that can be bestowed upon any writer, after the praise given to the improvement of the taste of a people, is, perhaps, to say that he corrupts that taste.In our own language, Mr. Pope and Dr. Swift each employ a different device in all their works written in verse than previously employed, the former in the long poems, the latter in the short ones. in doing so.Butler's quirkiness gives way to Swift's simplicity.Dryden's sloppy freedom and Addison's well-expressed, but often tedious and tiresome melancholy, are no longer objects of imitation, and all long poems are now written according to Mr. Pope's brevity and precision. .

Habit and manners do not merely subject works of art to their domination; they also influence our judgments of the beauty of natural objects.How many different and opposite forms of different things are considered beautiful?The proportions that are praised in one animal are quite different from the proportions that are honored in another.Each thing has its own particular form, which is admired by men, and which has its own beauty, distinct from everything else.Father Buffier, the learned Jesuit, therefore concluded that the beauty of every object consists in the most common forms and colors of that particular thing to which it belongs.In this way, in the human appearance, the beauty of various appearances is in a moderate state, which is similar to other ugly appearances.A beautiful nose, for example, which is neither too long nor too short, neither too straight nor too curved, is in the middle of all these extremes, and differs very little from any of them. More than all those extreme mutual differences.This is the shape which the Creator seems to have intended to make, and which, however, deviates greatly from it, and seldom does it properly; but, for all those deviations, there is still a great resemblance.When one draws several pictures according to a certain pattern, although they may all be neglected in some respect, they will all be more similar to the original than to each other; the general characteristics of the original are in all pictures. the most grotesque drawings are those that are very outrageous; and though the pattern is seldom copied exactly, the resemblance between the most precise and the most careless of line drawings, There will be more resemblances between drawings than in the most careless line drawings.Likewise, in each species the most beautiful have the strongest general structural features of the species, and closely resemble the greater number of individuals.Monsters, or wholly deformed things, on the contrary, are always the most queer, and seldom resemble the greater part of the species to which they belong.Thus the beauty of every thing, though in one sense the rarest of all things, since few individual things are capable of exactly attaining this moderate shape, is in another sense the most common. , because all things that are different from it are more like it than they are like each other.Therefore, according to Father Buffier, of all things the most common form is the most beautiful.It requires, therefore, some practice and experience to observe them carefully, before we can judge the beauty of various objects, or understand where the moderate and most common forms reside.The best judgments of the physical beauty of the human race will not help us judge the beauty of flowers, horses, or anything else.For the same reason, in different regions, and where different habits and ways of life have arisen, since every living being is mostly of a different form according to the environment in which it lives, different conceptions of beauty prevail.The beauty of a Moorish horse is indeed different from that of an American horse.How many different notions of the beauty of the human form and countenance have developed in different countries?

Fair complexion is a startling ugliness on the coast of Guinea.Thick lips and a snub nose are a beauty there.In some countries, dropping shoulders and long ears are a common object of envy.In China, if a woman's feet are big enough to walk, she is considered ugly.Among some savage peoples of North America, four boards are fastened to the head of their children, and thus, while the bones are soft and immature, the head is pressed into an almost perfectly square shape.The Europeans were appalled at this absurd and ferocious custom, and some missionaries attributed it to the ignorance of the peoples who practiced it.But when they denounced those savage peoples, they did not consider that until the last few years European ladies had been trying for nearly a century to squeeze their naturally beautiful round heads into the same kind of square shape. shape.Notwithstanding the known causes of much misery and disease, the custom has endowed it with popularity in perhaps the most civilized countries that man can find.

Such is the (theoretical) system of this learned and witty priest concerning the nature of beauty; according to him, the whole charm of beauty thus seems to arise from its approval of a certain habit, which leaves the imaginings of every particular thing deep impression.I should not, however, be led to believe that even our sense of external beauty is entirely determined by habit.Utility in any shape, and its suitability to useful ends for which men intend it, evidently make it welcome to us independently of custom.Certain colors are more popular than others, and are more pleasing to the eye in the first moment they see it.A charming appearance is more popular than a vulgar one.Variety of gestures is more pleasant than monotony.Variations that are connected, in which each new change appears to have been caused by a change that preceded it, and in which all the connected parts seem to have some natural connection with each other, which is better than no connection Disorganized collections of objects are more popular.Though I cannot admit that custom is the sole principle of beauty, I can assent to the truth of this system of genius to the extent that I admit that any external shape, if it is so different from habit, and as we usually see it in every There is scarcely one so pleasingly beautiful as that which is seen in particular things; or any external shape, if it conforms to habit, and we have been accustomed to be in every certain kind of thing. Seeing it, there is hardly one that is so unpleasantly ugly.

CHAPTER II. Of the Influence of Custom and Morality on the Moral Sentiments As our sentiments to the beauty of every kind are so greatly influenced by custom and manner, it cannot be expected that the sentiment to the beauty of action should be entirely free from the domination of those principles.However, their influence here seems to be far less than anywhere else.There is, perhaps, no form of an external object—however absurd and grotesque—that habit does not make us accustomed to, or fashion does not make popular.But Nero's or Claudius's qualities and conduct are with which custom never brings us into harmony, and with which fashion never makes men approve; the former are always the objects of fear and hatred. ; the latter is always the object of contempt and ridicule.Those imaginary principles upon which our sense of beauty rests are very fine and fragile, and easily changed by habit and education; but the sentiments of moral assent and disapproval are the strongest in human nature. and of the most fertile affections; though they may be somewhat aberrant, they cannot be wholly distorted. Not quite so great is the influence of custom and manner upon the moral sentiments, yet very similar to its influence anywhere else.When custom and morality coincide with our natural principles of right and wrong, they sharpen our sensibilities, and increase our aversion to everything that approaches evil.Those who have been educated among true friends, and not among what are commonly called, are accustomed to find nothing but justice, modesty, humanity, and order in those they respect and live with. What comes before is most indignant at that which contradicts the maxims prescribed by those virtues.Conversely, those who have been unfortunate enough to have been brought up amidst violence, debauchery, hypocrisy, and injustice have lost all sense of the inappropriateness of such conduct, though not entirely, but have lost all sense of its appalling outrage, or its Feeling of revenge and punishment.They have been familiar with this behavior from infancy, habit has accustomed them to it, and it is all too easy to see it as something that is so-called natural, that is, something that can and must be practiced by us, so as to prevent ourselves from being Stuff for straight people. Ethos, too, sometimes gives a reputation to a certain degree of disorder, and, on the contrary, sometimes gives a cold reception to qualities that should be revered.During the reign of Charles II, a certain degree of licentiousness was considered to be characteristic of a liberal education.According to the opinion of the age, this kind of licentiousness was associated with generosity, sincerity, nobility, and fidelity, and the man who acted in this manner proved to be a gentleman, not a Puritan. On the other hand, decorum of manner and regularity of conduct were out of fashion, and were associated in the imagination of those times with deceit, cunning, hypocrisy, and indecency.To the shallow, the flaws of the great have always seemed agreeable.They connected these defects not only with exceptional good luck, but with many of the higher virtues which they ascribed to the position of great man; with the spirit of freedom and independence, with frankness, generosity, , humanity and politeness.On the contrary, the virtues of the lower ranks--extreme frugality, industry, and strict discipline--seem to them vulgar and repulsive.They associate the latter virtues with the inferiority of station to which those qualities are usually assigned, and with what they suppose to be the many great qualities which usually accompany such temperaments as baseness, cowardice, ill-temper, hypocrisy, and petty theft. Defects are linked. In different occupations and situations of life men are acquainted with very different objects, habituate them to very different passions, and naturally develop in them very different qualities and modes of conduct.In every class and every profession we expect experience to have taught us some degree of the manner of conduct which belongs to that class and to that profession.But since, among things, we are especially fond of intermediate forms, every part and every characteristic of which correspond exactly to the general standard which the Creator seems to have laid down for that kind of thing, so in every class, or , if I may say so, among all kinds of people we especially like those in whom there is neither too much nor too much of that quality which usually accompanies their particular conditions and circumstances of life. Not too little.We say that a man ought to appear to correspond to his trade or occupation, but it is unpopular to show off every occupation.For the same reason, different stages of life behave in different ways.In old age we expect solemnity and poise, a sickly, weather-beaten, and fading sensibility which seems to make solemnity and poise both natural and awe-inspiring; in youth we expect to see Sensitive, light-hearted, and lively, for experience teaches us that everything that is interesting strongly affects the childish and inexperienced senses of the young.Each of those two periods, however, may be liable to have too much of the characteristics belonging to that period.The frivolity of youth and the obstinacy of old age are equally unpleasant.According to the common saying, it is agreeable if the young have in their conduct a certain manner of the old, and the old retain the lightness and vivacity of the young.However, both can be prone to having too much of the other's way of behaving.The coolness and rigidity which are excused in old age make the young ridiculous.The frivolity, carelessness, and vanity indulged in youth bring old age to contempt. The particular qualities and manners which we have acquired by habit, as is appropriate to classes and occupations, may sometimes have a propriety independent of custom; circumstances, we ought to applaud this particular quality and manner for that.The propriety of a man's conduct is not by its suitability to any one of his circumstances, but to all his circumstances, which we think naturally attract his attention when we put ourselves in their place.If he seems overly attracted to one of these circumstances, as if ignoring the others altogether, we disapprove of his behavior as if we don't fully approve of something because he doesn't fit in properly with all the circumstances he finds himself in. but his affections for the object of his principal interest, when nothing else demands his attention, do not, perhaps, go beyond what we would fully sympathize with and approve of.In personal life a certain degree of grief and vulnerability a father may display at the loss of his only son is beyond reproach, but in a general at the head of an army, when honor and public safety require his attention , this grief and vulnerability is unforgivable.As in general cases different objects ought to attract the attention of men of different occupations, different passions must be their customary sentiments; and when we put ourselves in their position in this particular respect, we must see that Each event naturally affects them more or less, according to whether the emotions it arouses correspond to their established habits and moods.We cannot expect the same sense of the joie de vivre and pleasantness of life from a priest as we expect from an official.The priest's special calling is to look to the grim future that awaits the world, to foretell the unfortunate consequences of violating the rules of duty, and to be himself an example of the earnest observance of these rules, as if he were a passing (God) The messenger of the message, neither rashness nor indifference properly delivers the message.His mind, one supposes, has been occupied with things too solemn and serious to make room for the impressions of trifles that fill the attention of the dissolute and light-hearted.We soon feel, therefore, that there is a certain propriety of conduct independent of custom, which custom has endowed to this profession; and there is nothing so in the qualities of a clergyman so solemn, Seriousness and cleanliness are more appropriate qualities we've come to expect from his behaviour.The above observation is so simple and clear; that few people will be careless enough to sometimes think otherwise, and not express in this manner his approval of the qualities usually associated with the profession of priests. The basis of the qualities common to other occupations is not so simple and clear, and our assent to them is entirely customary, and need not be confirmed and deepened by the above observations.For example, we ascribe, out of habit, to the profession of a soldier gayety, frivolity, vivacity, and a certain dissoluteness.But if we consider what tempers are most suited to this occupation, we may perhaps easily conclude that those who are constantly exposed to extraordinary dangers think more often than others about death and its consequences An extremely serious and thoughtful disposition is the best disposition for the Dog.This condition of the soldier, however, is perhaps also the reason why the opposite temper is so common among them.If we observe calmly and attentively, we shall see that in order to conquer the fear of death, such great efforts are required that those who are constantly confronted with death find that their own indifference to their own safety is placed aside, and thus become Throw yourself into all kinds of amusement and debauchery, and it will be easier to forget your fear of death.A camp is not the province of a thoughtful man or a brooding man: indeed such a man is often quite resolute, and is able, by some great effort, to face with unshakable determination the almost inevitable die.But in the face of constant, though not immediate, danger, compelled to make a long-term effort, this effort exhausts and depresses the mind so that all happiness and enjoyment can no longer be felt within.Those who indulge and carefree, make no effort at all, who almost never make up their minds to think about them, but who forget all cares about their situation in constant enjoyment and amusement, are more likely to bear this. situation.Whenever an officer has no reason to consider the unusual dangers he is incurs, he is likely to lose his jovial and wild disposition.A city captain is usually a sober, careful, and miserly creature like any other citizen.For the same reason, long periods of peace very easily narrow the differences in character between townspeople and troops.At any rate, the usual situation of men engaged in such occupations makes merriment and a certain licentiousness so evidently their common qualities, and habit so strongly, in our imagination, brings them Qualities are so bound up with this state of life that we are all too apt to despise the man whose temperament or situation prevents him from acquiring them.We laugh at the stern, cautious facial expression of a city guard, which is so different from those of his colleagues.Often those colleagues seemed to be ashamed of the invariance of their own manners, and not from the ethos of their profession, and liked to put on an air of indiscretion which was by no means natural to them.Whatever the manners we are accustomed to see in persons of a certain respectable class, it is so closely associated with it in our imagination that whenever we see a man of that class, We all expect to see this behavior, and feel something is missing when we don't.We are embarrassed and embarrassed, not knowing how we can talk about that quality, which obviously seems to be a different quality from those we have tried to classify. In the same way, the different circumstances of different ages and countries tend to make the majority of the people who live in these times and countries different characters, how people think of various qualities, and how much they think they are to be blamed or praised. It also varies from country to country and from time to time.That civility which is so highly esteemed, may be regarded in Russia as effeminate flattery, in a French court as rude and vulgar.The order and frugality that would have been considered extravagance in a Polish nobleman would have been considered extravagance in a citizen of Amsterdam.Every age and every nation has regarded as a moderate special talent or virtue that quality which is commonly seen among those who are respected.And as this change makes different qualities more or less habituated to them according to different circumstances, their sentiments as to the complete propriety of qualities and conduct vary accordingly. Virtues based on humanity are more cultivated in civilized nations than those based on self-denial and control of the passions.In savage and savage countries the exact opposite is the case—the virtues of self-denial are more cultivated than those of humanity.The peace, song, and bliss, with which civilized and educated ages are so omnipresent, have given little opportunity to develop contempt for danger, and patience with toil, hunger, and pain.Poverty is so easily avoided that its contempt is hardly a virtue any more.The abstinence of pleasure is no longer necessary, the mind can relax at will, and satisfy all kinds of hobbies beyond nature in all aspects. The exact opposite is true among savages and savages.Every savage has undergone some sort of Spartan training, and, as circumstances force him, can endure all kinds of hardships.He was in constant peril: was constantly subjected to extreme hunger, and always died from want of the means of subsistence.His surroundings not only accustom him to hardships of every kind, but educate him not to succumb to the passions which they arouse.It is impossible for him to expect sympathy or connivance from his fellow man for such a weakness.We ourselves must be at some level of comfort before we can be more sympathetic to others.We have little time for the sufferings of our neighbours, if we ourselves are afflicted so badly with pain; and all savages, too busy to gratify their own wants and wants, pay too little attention to those of others.A savage, therefore, whatever the nature of his afflictions, expects no sympathy from those around him, and therefore does not wish to expose himself by making the slightest of his weaknesses known.He never allowed his passion, however violent and violent it may be, to disturb the calmness of his countenance, or the poise of his demeanor.We are told that the savage of North America pretends indifference on all occasions, and considers it injurious to his dignity if he appears in any way to be swayed by love, sorrow, or resentment.Their nobility and self-restraint in this respect surprised Europeans.In a country where all are equal in rank and property, mutual admiration may be expected to be the only consideration in marriage, and to enjoy it without restraint.However, it is precisely in such a country that all marriages without exception are determined by the parents, and in such a country a young man thinks that if he shows any more to a woman than he does to a woman It would be a lifetime of disgrace to love another woman's love, or not to show sheer indifference to the question of when to marry whom.The yearning for love, so commonly indulged in the age of humanity and culture, is regarded among savages as the most inexcusable form of femininity.Even after marriage, both parties seem to be ashamed to unite on the basis of such base needs.They don't live together.They just met in secret.They still lived separately in their father's house, and the public cohabitation of the sexes, which in all other countries was permitted without reproach, was here considered the most indecent and unmanly sensuality.Savages do not merely exercise boundless self-control over this endearing passion.They suffer slander, accusations, and the greatest insults, often with the utmost indifference, in the full view of their fellow-citizens, without the slightest expression of indignation.When a savage is a prisoner of war, and, as often happens, hears from his conqueror that he has been condemned to death, he listens stoically, and never, after enduring the most terrible torments, Lamentation, or rather, showing no passion but contempt for the enemy.当他被军人们吊在慢慢燃烧的火上时，他嘲笑那些折磨他的人，并且告诉他们，如果他们之中有人落在他的手里，他会用比这更别出心裁的方法去折磨他。在他身上最柔软和最敏感的一切部位被灼痛、烧伤和划破达数小时以后，为了延长他的痛苦，刑罚常常暂停一下， 他被人从火刑柱上放下来。他利用这个间歇谈论各种无关紧要的事情，询问国家大事，似乎不感兴趣的只是自己的处境。在旁边观看的野蛮人同样地无动于衷， 似乎如此可怕的景象并未在他们身上发生什么影响。除了在他们加剧其痛苦的时候，几乎不去看一下那个被俘的人。在其它时刻，他们吸着烟草，以任一平常的事情来取乐，似乎没有发生这种可怕的事情。每个野蛮人，从幼年时起，就知道要为这种可怕的结局作好准备；他为了这个目的创作了他们叫做死亡之歌的歌曲，这是一首在他落入敌人之手并且在敌人加到自己身上的折磨之中死去时所唱的歌曲。其内容包含了对折磨他的人的睥睨，并且表达了对死亡和痛苦的极度蔑视。他在一切重要场合唱这首歌，当他出发去打仗时，当他在战场上遇见敌人时， 或者，当他在什么时候想表示自己已在思想上对这种可怕的不幸作好准备，并且任何事情都不能动摇他的决心或改变他的意志时，他都唱这首歌。对死亡和拷打的同样的蔑视盛行于所有其他的野蛮民族之中。没有一个来自非洲海岸的黑人在这一方面不具备一定程度的高尚品质，这种品质常常是他那卑劣的主人所不能想象的。命运女神对人类实行的绝对统治，从来不比下面这种情况更为残酷，那就是：使那些英雄民族受欧洲监狱里放出来的残渣余孽的支配，受那些既不具备自己祖国、也不具备征服国美德的坏人的支配，他们的轻浮、残忍和卑鄙，十分公正地使他们受到被征服者的轻视。 野蛮人国家的习惯和教育要求每个野蛮人具备的那种超人的、百折不回的坚定，并不要求在文明社会里养育的那些人也具备。如果后者在痛苦中抱怨，在贫困中悲叹，听任自己受爱情摆布或为愤怒所困扰，他们很容易得到人们的谅解。 人们并不认为这种软弱会影响他们的某些基本品质。只要他们不让自己激动得干出任何违反正义或人道的事，那么虽然他们面部表情的平静或他们的谈吐和行为的镇定多少会受到干扰和破坏，失去的只是一点声誉。一个对其它激情更为敏感的富有人性和文明的人，可能更容易同情某种激昂振奋的行为，更容易原谅某种略微过火的行动。当事人意识到这一点；确信自己的判断公正，从而纵容自己强烈地表露出自己的激情，而不那么害怕因为暴露自己强烈的情绪而遭到人们的轻视。我们敢于在一个朋友面前表露强烈的情绪，而不在一个陌生人面前表露这种情绪，是因为我们期待从前者而不是从后者那里得到宽容。同样，在文明民族中， 得体这类准则容许比在野蛮民族中得到认可的更为激烈的行为。文明人以朋友般的坦白相聚交谈；野蛮人以陌生人般的保留态度相聚交谈。法国人和意大利人这两个欧洲大陆上最文明的民族，在自己对一切都感到满意时所流露的那种情绪和高兴劲儿，首先使碰巧在他们中间旅行的那些陌生人感到惊讶，这些人在感觉比较迟钝的人中间接受教育，不能理解这种热情的表现，他们在自己的国家里从未见过类似的表现。一个年青的法国贵族在被拒绝编入一个军团时，会在全体朝臣面前哭泣起来。男修道院院长达波斯（Du Bos）说，一个意大利人被判罚款20 先令时所表现的情绪，比一个英国人得知自己被判处死刑时所表现的更为强烈。西塞罗在罗马的优雅之风达到顶峰的时候，会怀着满腹的伤情愁绪当着全体元老和全体人民的面哭泣起来，而不感到降尊纡贵——因为很明显，他必须在每一次演说结束时这样做。在罗马早期和未开化的时代，按照当时的行为方式，演说者或许不会表现出自己如此强烈的情绪。我想，如果西庇阿家族、莱列阿斯和老加图当着公众的面流露如此脆弱的感情，会被认为是违背本性和不合宜的事情。古代的那些武将能够显示自己的地位、庄重和良好的判断，但是，据说他们对那种卓越和热情洋溢的演说却感到陌生，这种演说是在西塞罗诞生之前不久由格拉古兄弟、克拉苏和苏尔皮西乌斯率先介绍到罗马来的。这种成功或不成功地在法国和意大利盛行已久的激动人心的演说，只是在最近才开始介绍到英国来。 要求各文明民族和野蛮民族实行的自我控制的程度之间的差别极大，致使他们各自按照这种不同的标准来判断行为的合宜性。 这种差别引起了其它许多并非不重要的差别。一个多少有些习惯于听从天性倾向的文明人变得坦率，豪爽和真诚。相反，被迫抑制和隐藏各种激情表现的野蛮人必然养成虚伪和掩饰的习惯。所有那些同亚洲、非洲或美洲的野蛮民族有交往的人都注意到，他们都是同样难以理解的，并且当他们有意隐瞒真情时，没有哪种查询可以从他们那里获知真相。他们不会被那些巧妙的问题诱入圈套。拷打本身不能使他们供认任何他们一点儿也不想讲的事情。一个野蛮人的激情，虽然从未通过任何外部情绪表达出来，却隐匿在受害者的心里，尽管他的愤怒已达到最强烈的程度。虽然他很少显露出任何愤怒的迹象，但是，当他终于抑制不住自己的复仇欲望时，他的报复总是残暴和可怕的。最小的侮辱都会使他陷入绝望。 他的面部表情和谈吐确实还是平静和从容自若的；但是他的行动常常是极其凶猛和狂暴的。在北美那些到了最易动感情的年龄和比较胆怯的女性中间，在只是受到母亲轻微的责备时，除了说一句“你不会再有一个女儿了”以外，不表露出任何激情，也不说别的什么，就去跳水自尽的人，并不少见。在文明民族中，一个男人的激情通常不是这样狂暴或猛烈。他们常常吵吵闹闹，但很少造成伤害；而且通常似乎只指望使旁观者确信他们这样激动是正确的，并得到他的同情和赞同，做到这一点，他们就满足了。 然而，习惯和风气对人类道德情感产生的所有这些影响，同它们在其它地方产生的影响相比，是微不足道的；那些原则所造成的判断的最大失误，并不同一般的品格和行为有关，而是同特殊习惯的合宜或不合宜有关。 在不同的职业和不同的生活状况中，习惯引导我们去赞同的不同的行为方式，并不是至关紧要的事情。从老年人和青年人身上，从牧师和官员身上，我们都期待着真理和正义；我们正是在瞬息即逝的事情中，寻找他们各自品质中的明显特征。关于这些，如果我们留意，也常常可以看到我们没有注意到的情况，即有一种习惯已经教导我们赋予各种职业的品质的合宜性，独立于习惯之外。因此， 在这种情况下，我们不能抱怨说，天然情感的反常是十分明显的。虽然不同民族的行为方式要求在他们认为值得尊敬的品质方面具备不同程度的同一品质，但是，可以说甚至在这里也会发生最坏的事情。那就是，某种美德的功能有时被扩大，以至对其它一些美德有所损害。波兰人中间盛行的那种质朴的殷勤好客，或许对节约和良好的秩序有所损害；荷兰人中间得到尊重的节俭，或许对慷慨和亲密关系有所损害。野蛮人所需要的勇气减弱了他们的人性；或许，文明民族所需要的灵敏感觉有时也会损坏他们刚强的坚定性格。一般说来，在任何民族中产生的行为风格，常常在整体上被认为是最适合于那个民族的处境的。勇气是最适合于一个野蛮人的处境的品质；灵敏的感觉是最适合于生活在非常文明的社会中的那些人的品质。因此，即使在这一点上，我们也不能抱怨人们的道德情感全面败坏。 因而，习惯所许可的对行为的自然合宜性的最大背离不是在一般行为方式方面。至于某些特殊的行为方式，习惯的影响往往是比较严重地损害良好的道德， 它也可能把严重违反了有关正确和错误的极为清楚的原则的各种特殊行为，判定为合法的和无可责备的。 例如，还有什么比伤害一个婴儿更野蛮的行为呢？这个婴儿的孤弱无助、他的天真无邪、他的惹人喜欢，甚至引起了敌人的怜悯，不饶恕这个婴儿的性命， 被认为是一个狂怒和残酷的征服者的最凶暴的行为。那么，一个父亲若伤害即使凶暴的敌人也不敢伤害的那个幼小的婴儿，对于这个父亲的心肠我们必然会有什么想法呢？但是，遗弃婴儿，即杀害新生婴儿，是几乎在全希腊、甚至在最有教养和最文明的雅典人中间都被允许去做的事；无论什么时候，父母的境况使他们难以把这个婴儿养大，从而把他遗弃在外任其挨饿，或者被野兽吃掉，都不受到责备或非难。这种做法可能始于最野蛮的未开化时代。人们在社会发展的最初阶段就已熟悉了这种做法，对这种习惯做法始终如一的承袭，妨碍了后代的人去察觉它的残暴。我们现在发现，这种做法盛行于所有的野蛮民族，最原始和最低级的社会肯定比其它的社会更加原谅这种做法。一个野蛮人的极端贫困，常常是这样一种贫困，他本人常常遭受极度的饥饿，他常常死于生活资料匮乏之中，对他来说同时维持自己和自己孩子的生命常常是不可能的。因此，对他在这种情况下抛弃自己的孩子我们不会感到奇怪。一个人在逃离无法抵抗的敌人时，会丢下自己的婴儿，因为后者妨碍他逃命。这个人肯定会被人原谅，因为，如果他企图救出这个婴儿，他所能得到的唯一安慰是和婴儿同归于尽。因而，在这样的社会状况下，允许一个父亲去判断他能否把自己的孩子养大，对此，我们不应当深感意外。然而，在希腊社会晚期，出于模糊的利益或便利上的考虑而允许发生这种事情，这是决不能原谅的。延续下来的习惯在这个时候如此彻底地认可这种做法， 以致不仅世人松弛的行为准则容忍这种暴虐的特权，而且甚至应当是很合理和精确的哲学家们的理论，也被业已养成的习惯引入歧途；在这里像在许多其它情况下一样，不去加以谴责，反而依据这种公众利益，这种牵强附会的理由支持这种恶习。亚里士多德把这种做法说成是地方长官在许多场合应当加以鼓励的事情。 仁慈的柏拉图具有同样的观点，似乎赋予他的一切哲学著作以生命的人类之爱， 并没有在什么地方指明他不赞同这种做法。如果习惯能够认可如此可怕的违反人性的行为，我们就很可能推想，几乎没有什么如此粗野的特殊的行为不能够得到认可。这种我们天天听到人们在谈论的事情已经司空见惯。人们也似乎认为，这是为那种本身是最不义和最无理性的行为进行的一种十足的辩解。 有一个浅显的理由可以说明，为什么习惯从来没有使我们对人类行为和举止的一般风格和品质所怀有的情感，产生其程度同我们对特殊习惯的合宜或非法所怀有的情感一样的失常。从来不会有任何这样的习惯。没有一个这样的死会能够存在一分钟，在这个社会里，人们行为和举止中常见的倾向就是我刚才提到的那种可怕的习惯做法。