Page:Ethics (Moore 1912).djvu/244

 B be intrinsically indifferent, that is to say, if its intrinsic value =0, then the amount by which the value of the whole A + B exceeds the value of A must also =0, that is to say, the value of the whole must be precisely equal to that of A; while if B be intrinsically bad, that is to say, if its intrinsic value is less than 0, then the amount by which the value of A + B will exceed that of A will also be less than 0, that is to say, the value of the whole will be less than that of A. Our special case does then follow from the general assumption; and nobody, I think, would maintain that the special case was true without maintaining that the general assumption was also true. The general assumption may, indeed, very naturally seem to be self-evident: it has, I think, been generally assumed that it is so: and it may seem to be a mere deduction from the laws of arithmetic. But, so far as I can see, it is not a mere deduction from the laws of arithmetic, and, so far from being self-evident, is certainly untrue.

Let us see exactly what we are saying, if we deny it. We are saying that the fact that A