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

NATURE OF THE MORAL FACULTY* 28l
dominating school ofthought in the new science ofeconomics,
namely, the laissez-faire school. The manner in which this
influence came to be exerted was broadly the following.
The Will of Nature and Laissez-faire Economics.
The Will of Nature demands the preservation and advancement
of the self, and the self is preserved and advanced by
pursuing its own self-interest. In pursuing its own selfinterest
it does not, as one might have thought, come into
conflict with selves pursuing their self-interests. Why
does it not? Because Shaftesbury shares Butler's con-
viction of the fundamental identity between those actions
which benefit the self and those which benefit others.
Shaftesbury attacks what he calls "selfish theories"
because he believes that they embody a mistaken view of
self-interest; for it is, he thinks, by pursuing the good of
society rather than by indulging our private whims, that
we shall best advance the good of ourselves. This is
because it is the same Will of Nature which animates both
the self and other selves. The Will of Nature is beneficial;
therefore, action which is in accordance with the Will is
also beneficial. To pursue the true interest of the self is
to act conformably with what the Will of Nature enjoins;
therefore, action which promotes true self-interest is good
and will be in harmony with the actions of others pursuing
their true self-interests. There is, therefore, no opposition
between private and public welfare; to pursue the latter
is to achieve the former.
This doctrine has important consequences in the spheres
of politics and economics. For if to act in accordance with
self-interest is to fulfil the Will of Nature, to act in accordance
with self-interest is likely to produce socially beneficial
results. Shaftesbury's conception of the Will of Nature
thus helped to pave the way for what were subsequently
to be known as laissez-faire economics. If in the sphere of
economics a man acts in accordance with his true self-
interest, and if he is right in his conception of what con-
stitutes his self-interest, he will automatically promote the