Page:An introduction to ethics.djvu/208

 answer this question leads us to consider a most important ethical problem, which has frequently in the course of this book appeared above our horizon, though its explicit examination has always been postponed.

§3. Self-assertion and Self-repression. Is the moral ideal self-denial or self-affirmation? Does duty consist in the assertion of myself or the negation of myself? Am I to seek my own interests or the interests of others? Ought I to be egoistic or altruistic? This problem has given rise to as much discussion among moralists as any other.

On the one hand, there is a persistent tendency to maintain that self-denial is the highest moral ideal. It is a man's duty, on this theory, to renounce the self with all its desires and interests and inclinations. This doctrine of self-abnegation has had wide currency as a religious and moral ideal. It is prominent in Buddhism, and in many varieties of Christianity. Puritanism and Roman Catholic monasticism alike breathe its spirit. In many ethical theories also its influence is marked. We find it in Stoicism and Cynicism, and we find it in Kant. And popular moral theory (whatever popular moral practice may be) is deeply tinctured with it. The life of "self-denial" or "self-sacrifice" is popularly held to be a peculiarly noble one.

On the other hand, the doctrine that the great aim of life consists in self-development and self-assertion has never lacked adherents. From the earliest times there have been extreme individualists, both in theory and practice, who have claimed the right to develop and cultivate themselves at