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 CHAPTER X.

THE MOTIVES AND SANCTIONS OF CONDUCT

§ 1. Preliminary Remarks. Moral judgment, if it is to be valid, must, we have seen, be based on reason. Now, this important conclusion leads us on immediately to ask other questions. Merely to know that sound moral judgment must be rational does not, after all, take us very far. We need to know, in addition, what exactly are the rational principles that we apply in moral judgment. Accordingly, in this chapter we consider two very important questions which are frequently asked in ordinary life, and to which it is difficult, without some reflection, to give a satisfactory answer. It is often asked, "What makes an action right?" "Is it right because its motive is good or because its consequences are good?" Less frequently the even more fundamental question is asked, "Why should I be good?" "What is the use of living a good life?" In attempting to answer the former question, we must investigate the precise meaning and relation of "motive" and "consequence"; and the answer to the latter will involve a discussion of the "sanctions" of conduct.