This type of over conscientiousness is a form of unhealthy self
consciousness, a bane to its possessor and a nuisance to every
one within range.
These familiar evils that may go with the utmost good will show us
that good will or conscientiousness is not enough. The conscientious
man may not only leave undone important duties; his good will may lead
him to push in exactly the wrong direction and do great harm. There
are thus two ways of judging a man. First, did he do the best he knew?
Did he live up to his conscience? Secondly, did he do what was really
best? Was his conscience properly developed and directed? Our
approval must often be divided; we may rate him high by the standard
of conscientiousness, but low in his standard of morality. This is the
familiar distinction between what is objectively right and what is
subjectively right. An objectively right action is "one such that,
if it be done, the total value of the universe will be at least as
great as if any other possible alternative had been done by the agent";
whereas "it is subjectively right for the agent to do what he judges
to be most probably objectively right on his information"-whether he
judges correctly or not. [Footnote: C. D. Broad in International
Journal of Ethics, vol. 24, pp. 316, 320.] It may then be right (in
one sense) for a man to do an act which is wrong (in the other sense)
[Footnote: Strictly speaking, there are four possible usages of the
word "right": An act is right which (a) is actually going to have the
best consequences; which (b) might be expected, on our best human
knowledge, to have the best consequences; which (c) the actor, on his
partial information, and with his partial powers of judgment, expects
to have the best consequences; or which (d) his conscience approves,
without reference to consequences.
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