Page:An introduction to ethics.djvu/145

 The same thing is true of moral judgment. From our earliest years we have been making judgments on our own or other people's actions and character. We have called this man "good" and that one "bad," this action "right" and that one "wrong." These judgments all necessarily involve some standard. Yet very few people have reflected on the nature of this standard.

The best way to investigate the meaning of the standard is to trace the origin and growth of moral judgment in the child. As soon as the child becomes aware of the existence of persons, it begins to perceive that moral judgments are passed upon it by these other persons. Of course, it does not call them moral judgments, but it gradually comes to have a more and more distinct conception of the meaning of such a moral judgment as "Baby is naughty to cry for his bottle," "Baby ought to like his bath," "Baby has been a good boy this morning." Very soon baby begins to pass moral judgments himself. In taking this step he is influenced by the two fundamental characteristics which all children possess in some measure, the tendency to imitate, and the tendency to originate. The child imitates his elders in everything; he copies their language, their gestures, their actions, and even subtle nuances of character of which they may have been unconscious until they saw them mirrored in the child. The child also imitates the moral judgments that are passed upon him. The tendency to copy his parents' moral judgments is very marked if the child has a younger brother and sister. His parents tell him that he is naughty when he cries. Therefore he