ABSTRACT
The business of psychology is to explain conduct, and not to judge it either by justifying it or by condemning it; to justify or to condemn is the business of ethics. A fuller knowledge of the psychological factors in an action may sometimes increase rather than lessen our condemnation; telling lies with malicious intent is certainly worse than lying in ignorance. Desires depend on certain tendencies of our human nature which may be classified as organic needs, instincts and general innate tendencies. Modern psychologists often write of ‘unconscious motives’ to action, and Mackenzie even mentioned ‘unconscious intention’. It is more convenient to limit the words ‘motive’ and ‘intention’ to conscious mental processes. This theory of psychological hedonism is, we must remember, a description of human nature learned by empirical observation and not, like ethical hedonism, an ethical theory or a statement of what men ought to seek.
