The Principles of Moral and Christian Philosophy. George Turnbull
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employments, ’tis to be regreted, are not in the easy circumstances necessary to the pursuit of such serious, profound enquiries. But are there not several, who have both abilities and excellent opportunities, and whose profession loudly calls upon them indefatigably to dedicate themselves to the service of virtue and religion; who wholly neglect these noble ends? Let me therefore address such, together with those, who suitably to their character, very earnestly employ their time, their talents, and all the advantages providence affords them, in recommending and promoting truth, piety, or useful learning, in the words of Cicero, who was ever engaged, either in useful action, or in teaching virtue and true philosophy. Quod enim munus reip. afferre, majus, meliusve possumus, quam si docemus atque erudimus juventutem? His praesertim moribus atque temporibus: quibus ita prolapsa est, ut omnium opibus refrenanda, ac coercenda sit.18<xv>
Human Nature and the ways of GOD to man vindicated, by delineating the general laws to which the principal phenomena in the human system are reducible, and shewing them to be wise and good.
— Nam sic habetote nullo in genere disputandi magis honeste patefieri, quid sit homini tributum natura, quantamvim rerum optimarum mens humana contineat; cujus muneris colendi, efficiendique causa nati, & in lucem editi simus, quae sit conjunctio hominum, quae naturalis societas inter ipsos. His enim explicatis fons legum & juris inveniri potest.
M. T. Cicero de leg. l. 1.19
Remember man, the universal cause,
Acts not by partial but by gen’ral laws;
And makes what happiness we justly call,
Subsist, not in the good of one, but all.
There’s not a blessing individuals find,
But some way leans and hearken to the kind.
Essay on man, Ep. 4.20
THE CONTENTS
Digested into a Regular Summary.
PART I Introduction.
Tho’ natural philosophy be distinguished from moral philosophy, yet every enquiry into any part of nature is an enquiry into fact: an enquiry concerning the human mind, its powers, and affections, and their operations, is as much an enquiry into fact, as an enquiry concerning the texture of the human body.
Natural philosophy is an enquiry into the general laws, according to which all the appearances in the material or sensible world are produced: and into the fitness or goodness of these laws.
It proceeds upon these few following fundamental principles.
I. That the corporeal world cannot be an orderly, regular system, nor by consequence the object of science and imitation, unless it be governed by general laws.
II. Those are justly concluded to be general laws in the material world, which are observed to prevail and operate uniformly in it; and regularly to produce like appearances.
III. Those general laws of the material world are good general laws, which by their steady, uniform operation, produce its good, beauty and perfection in the whole.
Corolary I. No effects of such laws are absolutely evil.
II. Such effects as are reduced to general laws, are accounted for physically.
III. They are also accounted for morally, if the laws be shewn to be good.
IV. Natural philosophy, when it proceeds so far as to account morally for appearances in the material world, coincides with moral philosophy.
When it does not proceed so far, it falls short of its principal use.
Moral philosophy is an enquiry into the texture and oeconomy of the human mind, its powers, and affections, and the laws according to which these operate or are operated upon: and into the fitness, and goodness of these powers, and affections, and their laws.
It must presuppose and proceed upon the same fundamental principles as natural philosophy.
Indeed those principles which have been mentioned as the fundamental principles, or the basis of natural philosophy, are in their nature universal truths or principles.
And therefore of every system, material or moral, it must be true.
I. That unless it be constituted and governed by general laws, it cannot be regular: and consequently it must be absolutely unintelligible.
II. Those must be received as general laws in a moral as well as a material system, which are found by experience to operate uniformly or invariably in it.
III. Those are good general laws in a system, moral as well as material, which are conducive by their general operation to the greater good of that system.
Corolary I. No effects of such laws are absolutely evil, but good.
II. Those effects are accounted for physically which are reduced to general laws.
III. They are accounted for morally by shewing the laws to be good.
Hence we see how moral philosophy ought to be carried on, and what is its end and business.
It is a mistake to imagine, that natural philosophy only can be carried on in that manner: or that it is a material system only which can be governed by general laws. Moral powers, and their exercises, necessarily suppose general laws established with regard to them.
We are as sure as we can be of any thing by experience and consciousness, that we have a certain sphere of power, activity or dominion.
But a sphere of activity cannot take place but where general laws obtain.
Here some few remarks are made upon the disputes about liberty and necessity: the doctrine of necessity was very properly called by the ancients, the doctrine of inactivity.
The enquiry in which man is chiefly concerned, is the extent of his power or sphere of dominion: accordingly the design of this treatise is to enquire into the powers and affections belonging to human nature, and the laws relative to them.
This enquiry is carried on in the same way with natural philosophy.
Accordingly as the one, so the other may proceed in the double manner of analysis and synthesis.
Hypotheses are not admitted in either, any further than as questions, into the truth or reality of which it is worth while to enquire.
As natural philosophy proceeds from causes to effects, or from effects to causes, and so is compounded of experiments and reasonings from experience, so moral philosophy in like manner, &c.
The following treatise therefore consists of observations or experiments, and reasonings from experiments about the human mind, in order to give a satisfying answer to this question, “Are all the effects and appearances relative to the constitution of the human mind, effects of faculties, powers, dispositions and affections, which with all the laws and connexions belonging to them, tend to produce good, order, beauty and perfection in the whole?”
CHAPTER I.
The first general law relative to mankind, is one that extends to, or runs thro’ the whole of our constitution and circumstances. It may be called the law of our power, or activity, or the law of industry. For, in consequence of it, is it that certain effects depend upon our will, as to their existence and non-existence; and according to it, it is that any goods may be procured, or any evils may be avoided by us; and that, in general, the greatest part of our goods and evils, whether natural or moral, are of our own making or procuring.
This is matter of universal experience. And were it not so, we would be a very inferior creature to what we now are in consequence of the power allotted to us, natural