352 Morality and Self-interest 



As soon as the true nature and object of asso- 

 ciation is understood, the supposed opposition 

 between morahty and self-interest will disappear. 

 It will then be understood that every action is 

 moral which increases the sum of enjoyment of 

 those who commit this action. But sum of enjoy- 

 ment and self-interest are equivalent terms, and 

 this amounts to saying that all action is moral 

 which is in accord with self-interest and all action 

 is immoral which is contrary to self-interest. 

 From a negative point of view the proposition 

 may be stated thus: All action is immoral which 

 does not have as a consequence an increase of 

 enjoyment for those who commit this action, or 

 in other words, those acts alone are immoral which 

 are contrary to self-interest and because they are 

 contrary to self-interest. If after the most pene- 

 trating analysis it is found that an action is in- 

 jurious to the one who commits it, this action is 

 immoral. If, after no matter how long a circuit, 

 an action causes harm to its author, this action is 

 immoral, but solely on accoimt of the fact that 

 it causes harm to its author. This reasoning can 

 be made clear by applying it to the rules of moral 

 conduct in the light of the current facts of exist- 

 ence in society. 



If we analyse the mechanism of association, we 

 find that if one man kills another, he kills himself 

 in a certain measure. It is because the murderer 

 harms himself that murder is a crime and therefore 

 a supremely immoral action. Suppose that murder 



