Bishop Berkeley
(1685 – 1753)

“In framing the general laws of nature, it is granted we must be entirely guided by the public good of mankind, but not in the ordinary moral actions of our lives. Such a rule, if universally observed hath, from the nature of things, a necessary fitness to promote the general well-being of mankind: therefore it is a law of nature. This is good reasoning. But if we should say, such an action doth in this instance produce much good and no harm to mankind; therefore it is lawful: this were wrong. The rule is framed with respect to the good of mankind, but our practice must be always shaped immediately by the rule”
George Berkeley
[Works, ed. Luce and Jessup, 6, 34]

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