Henry Sidgwick Quotes
Henry Sidgwick was a 19th-century English philosopher and one of the most rigorous and systematic moral philosophers of the Victorian era. His 1874 work The Methods of Ethics is widely regarded as the most carefully argued statement of utilitarian ethics ever produced, comparing utilitarianism with rational egoism and intuitional moral common sense and concluding with what he called the dualism of practical reason. The quotes below are attributed to Henry Sidgwick, organized by topic.
Henry Sidgwick on Happiness
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Attributed to Henry Sidgwick:
“I see no escape from the conclusion that we ought to be guided by ultimate good, which is happiness.”
Henry Sidgwick on Justice
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Attributed to Henry Sidgwick:
“The good of any one individual is of no more importance, from the point of view of the universe, than the good of any other.”
Henry Sidgwick on Virtue
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Attributed to Henry Sidgwick:
“Common sense morality is a body of judgements that has grown up in society without systematic reflection.”
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Attributed to Henry Sidgwick:
“Reason supplies us with no premise from which to deduce that another's good ought to be the end of my action; we must take it as a self-evident principle.”
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Attributed to Henry Sidgwick:
“The object of ethical inquiry is to attain systematic and precise general knowledge of what ought to be.”
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Attributed to Henry Sidgwick:
“It is reasonable to take as one's ultimate end one's own greatest good and equally reasonable to take as one's ultimate end the greatest good of all; this is the dualism of practical reason.”