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Lesson VIII: Dharma.381
that it is the higher portion of the mind speaking to man. Some say that it is
merely the sub-conscious mind repeating what has been suggested into it,
and that consciences grow with experience and change with environment.
Some claim that it is the voice of God speaking to the soul. Others have still
other explanations and theories. We shall consider this theory at greater
length a little further on in this lesson.
The third system of ethics rests upon the theory of utility, or what is known
as utilitarianism, which latter word is defined as “the doctrine that virtue
is founded on utility,” or “the doctrine that the greatest happiness of the
greatest number should be the aim of all social and political institutions.”—
(Webster.) This is the theory upon which human law is supposed to be
based. Blackstone, the great expounder of the English Law, states that human
laws are based upon “the law of nature,” which law of nature he tells us are
based upon the laws of God—eternal immutable laws of good and evil—
which the Creator causes to become evident to Man by means of human
reason. Blackstone goes on to say that “This law of nature, being coeval with
mankind, and dictated by God himself, is of course superior in obligation to
any other; no human laws are of any validity if contrary to this; and such of
them as are valid derive all their force, and all their authority, mediately or
immediately, from this original.” All this sounds beautifully simple, and one
is led to wonder how it is that civilized life is not heaven on earth, until he
remembers the state of modern law-making and law-administering, which,
however, is an improvement on that of former days. It seems so easy to
speak of the “law of nature,” but so difficult to apply that law to details of life,
and to administer it. Blackstone, himself, recognizes this fact, and says; “If our
reason were always clear and perfect, the task would be pleasant and easy;
we should need no other guide but this: But every man now finds the contrary
in his own experience; that his reason is corrupt, and his understanding full
of ignorance and error.” The man who has had much experience in courts
and the processes of “justice” will be apt to agree with the great English
lawyer, in his last quoted remarks. While it is true that the laws of a nation