GUIDE TO THE PHILOSOPHY 1938 - 1947.pdf - Rare Books at ...

OBJECTIVE INTUITIONISM
human souls to everlasting damnation, justify their con-
signment by refusing to call a pleasure a pleasure, if they
can call it a sin, and then proceed to point out that most
human beings do in fact desire pleasure. This view, which
was popular in the last century! has lost favour in the
present There are two comments which may appro-
priately
be made on it.
Distressing Theological Implications of KanVs Puritanical
View of Duty.
First, from the point of view of theology, it is only an extreme
view which would be prepared to credit human beings
with so much natural wickedness and the Almighty with such
equivocal intentions towards His erring creatures. It may of
course be the case that our employment ofthe gift offree will
is such that most of us deserve the eternal torment which,
on this view, awaits us. But, if it is the case, then the
Almighty who is omniscient must know that it is. He must
have known, too, that it would be the case when He
created us and endowed His creatures with -free will;
He must have known, that is to say, that most of those
whom He created would use His gift in such a way as
to justify Him in consigning them to eternal torment.
It is difficult to subscribe to the implications of this view
of the Deity.
A more reasonable theological view is that there are
from the first the seeds of
implanted in human beings
good as well as of evil. How, indeed, could it be otherwise,
since God created us? If we are by nature at least partially
good, to act in accordance with our natural desires cannot
always be to act otherwise than in accordance with our
duty; to do what we want to do cannot always be tantamount
to applying for a passport to hell.
That fa Good Man's Goodness is ofUn Unthinking and
Enjoyable.
Secpndly, from the point ofview ofmorals,
it seems difficult
to accept the view that the good man is one whose virtue is