"But there is a superior Principle of Reflection or Conscience in every Man, which distinguisheth between the internal Principles of his Heart, as well as his external Actions: Which passes Judgment upon himself and them; pronounces determinately some Actions to be in themselves just, right, good; others to be in themselves evil, wrong, unjust: Which without being consulted, without being advised with, magisterially exerts itself, and approves or condemns Him the doer of them accordingly: And which if not forcibly stopp'd, naturally and always of Course goes on to anticipate a higher and more effectual Sentence, which shall hereafter second and affirm its own."
— Butler, Joseph (1692-1752)
Author
Work Title
Place of Publication
Printed by W. Botham
Publisher
London
Date
1726, 1729
Metaphor
"But there is a superior Principle of Reflection or Conscience in every Man, which distinguisheth between the internal Principles of his Heart, as well as his external Actions: Which passes Judgment upon himself and them; pronounces determinately some Actions to be in themselves just, right, good; others to be in themselves evil, wrong, unjust: Which without being consulted, without being advised with, magisterially exerts itself, and approves or condemns Him the doer of them accordingly: And which if not forcibly stopp'd, naturally and always of Course goes on to anticipate a higher and more effectual Sentence, which shall hereafter second and affirm its own."
Metaphor in Context
[...] Yet since other Passions, and Regards to private Interest, which lead us (though indirectly, yet they lead us) astray, are themselves in a Degree equally natural, and often most prevalent; and since we have no Method of seeing the particular Degrees in which one or the other is placed in us by Nature; it is plain the former, considered meerly as natural, good and right as they are, can no more be a Law to us than the latter. But there is a superior Principle of Reflection or Conscience in every Man, which distinguisheth between the internal Principles of his Heart, as well as his external Actions: Which passes Judgment upon himself and them; pronounces determinately some Actions to be in themselves just, right, good; others to be in themselves evil, wrong, unjust: Which without being consulted, without being advised with, magisterially exerts itself, and approves or condemns Him the doer of them accordingly: And which if not forcibly stopp'd, naturally and always of Course goes on to anticipate a higher and more effectual Sentence, which shall hereafter second and affirm its own. But this Part of the Office of Conscience is beyond my present Design explicitly to consider. It is by this Faculty, natural to Man, that he is a moral Agent, that he is a Law to himself: By this Faculty, I say, not to be considered meerly as a Principle in his Heart, which is to have some Influence as well as others; but considered as a Faculty in Kind and in Nature supream over all others, and which bears its own Authority of being so. This Prerogative, this natural Supremacy of the Faculty which surveys, approves, or disap- proves the several Affections of our Mind, and Actions of our Lives, being that by which Men are a Law to themselves, their Conformity or Disobedience to which of our Nature renders their Actions in the highest and most proper Sense natural or unnatural; it is sit it be further explained to you: And I hope it will be so, if you will attend to the following Reflections.
(pp. 35-7)
(pp. 35-7)
Categories
Provenance
Reading; text from Hathi Trust.
Citation
9 entries in ESTC (1729, 1736, 1749, 1759, 1765, 1769, 1774, 1792).
First published in 1726, but see "The second edition, corrected: to which is added a preface": Fifteen Sermons Preached at the Rolls Chapel Upon the Following Subjects. Upon Humane Nature. Upon the Government of the Tongue. Upon Compassion. Upon the Character of Balaam. Upon Resentment. Upon Forgiveness of Injuries. Upon Self-Deceit. Upon the Love of Our Neighbour. Upon the Love of God. Upon the Ignorance of Man. by Joseph Butler, L. L. B. Preacher at the Rolls, and Rector of Stanhope in the Bishoprick of Durham. 2nd ed., corr. (London : printed by W. Botham, for James and John Knapton, at the Crown in St. Paul's Church-Yard, 1729). <Link to ESTC>
See Fifteen Sermons Preached at the Rolls Chapel Upon the Following Subjects. Upon Humane Nature. Upon the Government of the Tongue. Upon Compassion. Upon the Character of Balaam. Upon Resentment. Upon Forgiveness of Injuries. Upon Self-Deceit. Upon the Love of Our Neighbour. Upon the Love of God. Upon the Ignorance of Man. By Joseph Butler, L. L. B. Preacher at the Rolls, and Rector of Stanhope in the Bishoprick of Durham. (London: Printed by W. Botham, for James and John Knapton, at the Crown in St. Paul's Church-Yard, 1726). <Link to ESTC>
Reading in D. D. Raphael, ed. British Moralists. vol 1 of 2. (Oxford at the Clarendon Press, Oxford UP 1969). The OUP text is drawn from the 4th edition of 1749, which is available in Google Books.
First published in 1726, but see "The second edition, corrected: to which is added a preface": Fifteen Sermons Preached at the Rolls Chapel Upon the Following Subjects. Upon Humane Nature. Upon the Government of the Tongue. Upon Compassion. Upon the Character of Balaam. Upon Resentment. Upon Forgiveness of Injuries. Upon Self-Deceit. Upon the Love of Our Neighbour. Upon the Love of God. Upon the Ignorance of Man. by Joseph Butler, L. L. B. Preacher at the Rolls, and Rector of Stanhope in the Bishoprick of Durham. 2nd ed., corr. (London : printed by W. Botham, for James and John Knapton, at the Crown in St. Paul's Church-Yard, 1729). <Link to ESTC>
See Fifteen Sermons Preached at the Rolls Chapel Upon the Following Subjects. Upon Humane Nature. Upon the Government of the Tongue. Upon Compassion. Upon the Character of Balaam. Upon Resentment. Upon Forgiveness of Injuries. Upon Self-Deceit. Upon the Love of Our Neighbour. Upon the Love of God. Upon the Ignorance of Man. By Joseph Butler, L. L. B. Preacher at the Rolls, and Rector of Stanhope in the Bishoprick of Durham. (London: Printed by W. Botham, for James and John Knapton, at the Crown in St. Paul's Church-Yard, 1726). <Link to ESTC>
Reading in D. D. Raphael, ed. British Moralists. vol 1 of 2. (Oxford at the Clarendon Press, Oxford UP 1969). The OUP text is drawn from the 4th edition of 1749, which is available in Google Books.
Date of Entry
06/13/2014
