58 ETHICAL ASPECTS OF EVOLUTION 



grounds, whether it continued or was replaced by com 

 plete unconsciousness, was unknown to us. Others have 

 told us that not all the pleasures of empire are preferable to 

 a dreamless sleep, and from this it would seem to follow 

 that our usual conscious state is to some degree painful ; 

 but it is a more common belief that our usual state, when 

 we are not actively attentive to our algedonic experience, is 

 slightly pleasurable ; and we are sometimes asked to take 

 this into consideration when we strike the balance. 



Again, it might be imagined that the most superficial 

 knowledge would enable us to say whether pleasures differed, 

 not only in intensity* but also in kind. That there are 

 different kinds of pleasure would seem to most men obvious. 

 But it is nevertheless true that many, but not all, of those 

 who have made special study of the question, and whose 

 decision has strong claims on our deference, think other 

 wise. On both these elementary questions that is, whether 

 algedonic feeling is a permanent or only an occasional 

 feature of consciousness, and whether the kinds of pleasure 

 are many, or one only there is no general agreement of 

 competent opinion, and, until they are both decided, it can 

 hardly be said that our ideas as to what constitutes pain or 

 pleasure are distinct. 



If, despairing of an answer from a direct appeal to our 

 consciousness, we have recourse to other methods, we shall 

 fare no better. Perhaps the most generally received explana 

 tion is that pleasure is attached to processes which conduce 

 to the welfare of an organism, and pain to those which are 

 injurious to it. This, if it be intelligible, and in conformity 

 with facts, would, it appears to me, be a perfectly good 

 explanation by final ends. Unfortunately, it is open to 

 serious objections. In the first place, it is an instance of 

 ignotum per ignotius. The expression of the unknown in 

 terms of what is better known is a good and practical form 

 of explanation, and, if we knew exactly what was advan 

 tageous, we should be able, supposing the explanation to 

 be true, to determine pleasure in terms of advantage ; but 

 it can hardly be said that we do. Indeed, we have a far 



