ABSTRACT
Some qualities are even helpful to this good will itself and can make its task very much easier.1 They have none the less no inner unconditioned worth, but rather presuppose a good will which sets a 394 limit to the esteem in which they are rightly held2 and does not permit us to regard them as absolutely good. Moderation in affections and passions,3 self-control, and sober reflexion are not only good in many respects: they may even seem to constitute part of the inner worth of a person. Yet they are far from being properly described as good without qualification (however unconditionally they have been commended by the ancients). For without the principles of a good 3 will they may become exceedingly bad; and the very coolness of a scoundrel makes him, not merely more dangerous, but also immediately more abominable in our eyes than we should have taken him to be without it.
