St Ignatius College - Ignatian Yearbook (San Francisco, CA)

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80 IGNATIAN to do one act rather than another? Why may I not com- mit murder if I feel so inclined? , While that's a rather peculiar question, replied the ap- parent M. D., yet I scarcely think the answer is as dillicult as you seem to think. Every man, instinctively feels that some things are good, and that other things are bad. He feels an inclination toward the good, and an aversion to the evil. Hence the answer to your question is simply this,- instinct, . But even granting that it is instinct that makes acts right and wrong, that does not tell me why I must be moral. It merely inclines, to use your own words, and does not oblige me to act. Now look here, Hughie, spoke up the older man, isn't it the instinct of self-preservation, for instance, that causes us to say that murder is wrong? Well, let us grant, for the sake of argument, that instinct does oblige us to refrain from acting, what follows? Either man has a free will, or he has not. If the latter hypothesis be assumed, he must act under necessary laws. But to say that, what man does, he cannot help doing, is not only a contradiction of fact but of reason. How can a man be held responsible for doing what he cannot help? Do you for a moment think that, if you murdered another, and when arraigned for trial, you pleaded that you acted under the compulsion of instinct, you would be acquitted? By no means, common sense says that we must be free, if we are responsible. To make the argument stronger: Did you ever see a dog or a cat in jail? Can't say I did, replied his questioner with a laugh, unless you call the pound a jailf' Well, if you were to analyze your doctrine, you would be forced to admit its conclusion: If instinct were the sole force that obliged men to do good, and avoid evil, then, since instinct is possessed by the brute, you should hold the brute acountable for his acts just as you do in the case of rnan. If for instance, your neighbor's cat seeks to warble a mid-

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mlm Muni 5 Ee Milam! ' i sg igwlgg ,v T WAS one of those chill raw evenings of November. For want of something better tw to do, I picked out a soft divan in the lux- urious lounging room of the club, and de- cided to spend a quiet evening with my pipe. I-cj 'X ' I had been pulling slowly away for a few minutes, my mind centered on nothing in particular, when tive of the other members entered and gathered round a table to my right. I was in the shadow of the wall, and none seemed to notice my presence. For a while they roamed from current topics to small talk and from small talk back to current topics. It is a peculiar thing how, in these last few years, subjects, that before were restricted to the technical expert or to the philosopher, are now discussed by the uninitiated with the same freedom and certitude as for- merly characterized the student. No subject has perhaps become so popularized as ethicsg in club-room, on the street, over the dinner-table, the morality or immorality of acts is argued and commented upon from as many angles and with as widely differing opinions as there are speakers. I was scarcely surprised, therefore, to hear the conversa- tion turn from the consideration of a recent newspaper scandal, to the general basis of morality. One of the group, a young fellow evidently just having completed his studies, and who up to this time had been a silent listener, was re- sponsible for the change. While we are discussing the foundation of ethics, he remarked, could any of you gentle- men tell me, why I must be moral P What do you mean Hughie? spoke up a middle-aged gentleman, who bore all the Whisker marks of a doctor. . Well, what I'm trying to find out, is, what obliges me

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WHY MUST I BE MORAL? 81 night lullaby, why don't you, instead of hurling part of your bed-room's furniture at your serenader, go out and get a warrant against the cat for disturbing the peace? 4 The group laughed, including the doctor, who however continued his explanation: You must remember that I did not deny free will. All right then, suppose we say that man is endowed with free will, then since this necessarily entails operations that no material faculty can perform it must be a spiritual faculty. Now, instinct is materialg hence you would have a material faculty necessitating a spiritual one. Since law can only be imposed by a superior, and we are speaking here of the moral law, it is absurd to claim that an inferior faculty can impose a law on a superior one. , It strikes me, too, interrupted a tall aggressive looking fellow fwho, I afterwards learned, was a lawyerj, that, in- stead of answering your question, my friend has proven its contradictory. I-Iow's that? put in the doctor, with a slight show of heat. Well, the question was: 'Why must one be moral ?' that is to say, 'why must he do good and avoid evil?' By at- tributing this obligation to instinct, you have proven that we should be immoral at times. Not a bit of it. I never said anything like it! . No, not explicitly, but implicitly. You claim that we should follow instinct. But instinct often compels us to be angry or lustful. Hence if the good is what instinct dictates you would make acknowledged vices, virtues l Good! that is a point I did not think of, the young man insisted. The whole trouble with the theory of instinct is, that it makes a man a mere machine, compelled by ex- terior forces to act or not to act. This system might well be compared to a magnet, and a compass needle. Ap- proach one pole of the magnet toward the compass and im- mediately it will be attracted, approach the other pole and it repels the needle. Man is the compass needle in your doctrine. Approach a virtue and he is irresistibly drawn,