Principia Ethica 40
And secondly, (_b_) it may be the case that the existence of that which
we contemplate is itself a great positive good, so that, for this
reason alone, the state of things described by saying, that the object
of our emotion really exists, would be intrinsically superior to that
in which it did not. This reason for superiority is undoubtedly of
great importance in the case of human affections, where the object of
our admiration is the mental qualities of an admirable person; for that
_two_ such admirable persons should exist is greatly better than that
there should be only one: and it would also discriminate the admiration
of inanimate nature from that of its representations in art, in so far
as we may allow a small intrinsic value to the existence of a beautiful
object, apart from any contemplation of it. But it is to be noticed
that this reason would not account for any difference in value between
the cases where the truth was believed and that in which it was merely
cognised, without either belief or disbelief. In other words, so far
as this reason goes, the difference between the two subdivisions of
our second class (that of imaginative contemplation) would be as great
as between our first class and the second subdivision of our second.
The superiority of the mere _cognition_ of a beautiful object, when
that object also happened to exist, over the same cognition when the
object did not exist, would, on this count, be as great as that of the
_knowledge_ of a beautiful object over the mere imagination of it.
=119.= These two reasons for discriminating between the value of the
three cases we are considering, must, I say, be carefully distinguished
from that, of which I am now questioning the validity, if we are to
obtain a correct answer concerning this latter. The question I am
putting is this: Whether the _whole_ constituted by the fact that
there is an emotional contemplation of a beautiful object, which
both is believed to be and is _real_, does not derive some of its
value from the fact that the object _is_ real? I am asking whether
the value of this whole, _as a whole_, is not greater than that of
those which differ from it, _either_ by the absence of belief, with
or without truth, _or_, belief being present, by the mere absence of
truth? I am not asking _either_ whether it is not superior to them as
a means (which it certainly is), _nor_ whether it may not contain a
more valuable _part_, namely, the existence of the object in question.
My question is solely whether the existence of its object does not
constitute an addition to the value of the whole, quite distinct from
the addition constituted by the fact that this whole does contain a
valuable part.
If, now, we put this question, I cannot avoid thinking that it should
receive an affirmative answer. We can put it clearly by the method of
isolation; and the sole decision must rest with our reflective judgment
upon it, as thus clearly put. We can guard against the bias produced
by a consideration of value _as a means_ by supposing the case of an
illusion as complete and permanent as illusions in this world never can
be. We can imagine the case of a single person, enjoying throughout
eternity the contemplation of scenery as beautiful, and intercourse
with persons as admirable, as can be imagined; while yet the whole of
the objects of his cognition are absolutely unreal. I think we should
definitely pronounce the existence of a universe, which consisted
solely of such a person, to be _greatly_ inferior in value to one in
which the objects, in the existence of which he believes, did really
exist just as he believes them to do; and that it would be thus
inferior _not only_ because it would lack the goods which consist in
the existence of the objects in question, but _also_ merely because
his belief would be false. That it would be inferior _for this reason
alone_ follows if we admit, what also appears to me certain, that the
case of a person, merely imagining, without believing, the beautiful
objects in question, would, _although these objects really existed_,
be yet inferior to that of the person who also believed in their
existence. For here all the additional good, which consists in the
existence of the objects, is present, and yet there still seems to be
a great difference in value between this case and that in which their
existence is believed. But I think that my conclusion may perhaps be
exhibited in a more convincing light by the following considerations.
(1) It does not seem to me that the small degree of value which we may
allow to the existence of beautiful inanimate objects is nearly equal
in amount to the difference which I feel that there is between the
appreciation (accompanied by belief) of such objects, when they really
exist, and the purely imaginative appreciation of them when they do not
exist. This inequality is more difficult to verify where the object
is an admirable person, since a _great_ value must be allowed to his
existence. But yet I think it is not paradoxical to maintain that the
superiority of reciprocal affection, where both objects are worthy and
both exist, over an unreciprocated affection, where both are worthy
but one does not exist, does not lie solely in the fact that, in the
former case, we have two good things instead of one, but also in the
fact that each is such as the other believes him to be. (2) It seems to
me that the important contribution to value made by true belief may be
very plainly seen in the following case. Suppose that a worthy object
of affection does really exist and is believed to do so, but that there
enters into the case this error of fact, that the qualities loved,
though exactly like, are yet not the _same_ which really do exist.
This state of things is easily imagined, and I think we cannot avoid
pronouncing that, _although_ both persons here exist, it is yet not so
satisfactory as where the very person loved and believed to exist is
also the one which actually does exist.
=120.= If all this be so, we have, in this third section, added to our
two former results the third result that a true belief in the reality
of an object greatly increases the value of many valuable wholes.
Just as in sections (1) and (2) it was maintained that aesthetic and
affectionate emotions had little or no value apart from the cognition
of appropriate objects, and that the cognition of these objects had
little or no value apart from the appropriate emotion, so that the
whole, in which both were combined, had a value greatly in excess of
the sum of the values of its parts; so, according to this section, if
there be added to these wholes a true belief in the reality of the
object, the new whole thus formed has a value greatly in excess of the
sum obtained by adding the value of the true belief, considered in
itself, to that of our original wholes. This new case only differs from
the former in this, that, whereas the true belief, by itself, has quite
as little value as either of the two other constituents taken singly,
yet they, taken together, seem to form a whole of very great value,
whereas this is not the case with the two wholes which might be formed
by adding the true belief to either of the others.
The importance of the result of this section seems to lie mainly in two
of its consequences. (1) That it affords some justification for the
immense intrinsic value, which seems to be commonly attributed to the
mere _knowledge_ of some truths, and which was expressly attributed
to some kinds of knowledge by Plato and Aristotle. Perfect knowledge
has indeed competed with perfect love for the position of Ideal. If
the results of this section are correct, it appears that knowledge,
though having little or no value by itself, is an absolutely essential
constituent in the highest goods, and contributes immensely to their
value. And it appears that this function may be performed not only
by that case of knowledge, which we have chiefly considered, namely,
knowledge of the reality of the beautiful object cognised, but also
by knowledge of the numerical identity of this object with that which
really exists, and by the knowledge that the existence of that object
is truly good. Indeed all knowledge, which is directly concerned with
the nature of the constituents of a beautiful object, would seem
capable of adding greatly to the value of the contemplation of that
object, although, by itself, such knowledge would have no value at
all.--And (2) The second important consequence, which follows from
this section, is that the presence of true belief may, in spite of a
great inferiority in the value of the emotion and the beauty of its
object, constitute with them a whole equal or superior in value to
wholes, in which the emotion and beauty are superior, but in which a
true belief is wanting or a false belief present. In this way we may
justify the attribution of equal or superior value to an appreciation
of an inferior real object, as compared with the appreciation of a
greatly superior object which is a mere creature of the imagination.
Thus a just appreciation of nature and of real persons may maintain its
equality with an equally just appreciation of the products of artistic
imagination, in spite of much greater beauty in the latter. And
similarly though God may be admitted to be a more perfect object than
any actual human being, the love of God may yet be inferior to human
love, _if_ God does not exist.
=121.= (4) In order to complete the discussion of this first class
of goods--goods which have an essential reference to _beautiful_
objects--it would be necessary to attempt a classification and
comparative valuation of all the different forms of beauty, a task
which properly belongs to the study called Aesthetics. I do not,
however, propose to attempt any part of this task. It must only be
understood that I intend to include among the essential constituents of
the goods I have been discussing, every form and variety of beautiful
object, if only it be truly beautiful; and, _if_ this be understood,
I think it may be seen that the consensus of opinion with regard to
what is positively beautiful and what is positively ugly, and even with
regard to great differences in degree of beauty, is quite sufficient to
allow us a hope that we need not greatly err in our judgments of good
and evil. In anything which is thought beautiful by any considerable
number of persons, there is probably _some_ beautiful quality; and
differences of opinion seem to be far more often due to exclusive
attention, on the part of different persons, to different qualities
in the same object, than to the positive error of supposing a quality
that is ugly to be really beautiful. When an object, which some think
beautiful, is denied to be so by others, the truth is _usually_ that it
lacks some beautiful quality or is deformed by some ugly one, which
engage the exclusive attention of the critics.
I may, however, state two general principles, closely connected with
the results of this chapter, the recognition of which would seem to
be of great importance for the investigation of what things are truly
beautiful. The first of these is (1) a definition of beauty, of what
is meant by saying that a thing is truly beautiful. The naturalistic
fallacy has been quite as commonly committed with regard to beauty
as with regard to good: its use has introduced as many errors into
Aesthetics as into Ethics. It has been even more commonly supposed that
the beautiful may be _defined_ as that which produces certain effects
upon our feelings; and the conclusion which follows from this--namely,
that judgments of taste are merely _subjective_--that precisely the
same thing may, according to circumstances, be _both_ beautiful _and_
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