Page:An introduction to ethics.djvu/138

 § 3. The Meaning of Conduct. It follows from the close connection of character and conduct that there is a certain constancy and consistency in conduct. The educated man's conduct does not consist of isolated actions occurring at haphazard with no bond of unity or tie of purpose. His conduct displays a certain uniformity; it is his conduct and he acknowledges it and stands by it. We may define conduct as self-conscious behaviour, or as the system of a man's voluntary actions. What precisely this definition implies will become clear if we distinguish conduct from actions in general and from behaviour in general.

(1) Conduct consists in actions. But not all actions constitute conduct. We speak of the action of a motor-car or a sewing-machine or a type-writer. But we should not dream of talking of their conduct. Mechanical action is not conduct. Nor is all human action conduct. Certain human actions, e.g. reflex actions, are really mechanical. They take place naturally and necessarily in response to a particular external stimulus, in just as mechanical a way as the type-writer prints a letter when the key is depressed. Conduct consists only in voluntary human actions.

(2) Conduct is behaviour. But not all behaviour is conduct. We speak of the behaviour of the lower animals. The physiologist studies the behaviour of the frogs on which he experiments. But we do not ascribe conduct to the lower animals. Conduct is self-conscious behaviour. Conduct involves self-consciousness; and no animal is self-conscious. Self-consciousness implies the capacity to represent to oneself some end or aim, and to will the course of