even though the effects of A and B, respectively, might be precisely similar to what they now are. It implies, that is to say, that in a Universe in which there were no men, or in which the feelings of the majority were different from what they are in this one, it might not be right to prefer one total set of effects A to another B, even though in this Universe it is always right to prefer them.
Now I do not know if this theory has ever been expressly held; but some philosophers have certainly argued as if it were true. Great pains have, for instance, been taken to show that mankind are, in general, pleased with actions which lead to a maximum of pleasure, and displeased with those which lead to less than a maximum; and the proof that this is so has been treated as if it were, at the same time, a proof that it is always right to do what leads to a maximum of pleasure, and wrong to do what leads to less than a maximum. But obviously, unless to show that mankind are generally pleased with a particular sort of action is the same thing as to show that that sort of action is always right, some independent proof is
