The Descent of Man

the two do not easily co-exist in the same moment
of consciousness." A dim feeling that our
impulses do not by any means always arise
from any contemporaneous or anticipated pleasure,
has, I cannot but think, been one chief
cause of the acceptance of the intuitive theory
of morality, and of the rejection of the utilitarian
or "Greatest happiness" theory. With respect
to the latter theory the standard and the
motive of conduct have no doubt often been
confused, but they are really in some degree
blended.), write as if there must be a distinct
motive for every action, and that this must be
associated with some pleasure or displeasure.
But man seems often to act impulsively, that is
from instinct or long habit, without any consciousness
of pleasure, in the same manner as
does probably a bee or ant, when it blindly follows
its instincts. Under circumstances of extreme
peril, as during a fire, when a man endeavours
to save a fellow-creature without a
moment's hesitation, he can hardly feel pleasu-