ABSTRACT
In the last chapter we defined the good as satisfaction of desire. The general good will be the total of satisfaction of desire, no matter by whom enjoyed. The good of a section of mankind will be the satisfaction of the desires of that section, and the good of an individual will be the satisfaction of the desires of that individual. It is obvious that the various partial goods may conflict: when two men compete in a Presidential election, one of them will fail to have his desire satisfied, and so, in a lesser degree, will the percentage of the electorate that voted for him. As this illustration shows, it is possible for the desires of individuals or groups to conflict without any culpability on either side. Conflicts of desire are an essential and inescapable fact of human life. One of the main purposes of law and morality is to mitigate them, but they can never be wholly abolished.
