Amonglatermoralists，Kantisespeciallynotedforhisrigourinseparatingthepurelyrationalelementofthemoralcode:andhisethicalviewalsoappearstometocoincidetoaconsiderableextent，ifnotcompletely，withthatsetforthintheprecedingsection。Ihavealreadynoticedthathisfundamentalprincipleofdutyisthe`formal’ruleof``actingonamaximthatonecanwilltobelawuniversal’’；which，dulyrestricted，isanimmediatepracticalcorollaryfromtheprinciplethatIfirstnoticedintheprecedingsection。Andwefindthatwhenhecomestoconsidertheendsatwhichvirtuousactionisaimed，theonlyreallyultimateendwhichhelaysdownistheobjectofRationalBenevolenceascommonlyconceived——thehappinessofothermen。[7]Heregardsitasevidentapriorithateachmanasarationalagentisboundtoaimatthehappinessofothermen:indeed，inhisview，itcanonlybestatedasadutyformetoseekmyownhappinesssofarasIconsideritasapartofthehappinessofmankindingeneral。Idisagreewiththenegativesideofthisstatement，asIholdwithButlerthat``one’sownhappinessisamanifestobligation’’
independentlyofone’srelationtoothermen；but，regardedonitspositiveside，Kant’sconclusionappearstoagreetoagreatextentwiththeviewofthedutyofRationalBenevolencethatIhavegiven:——thoughIamnotaltogetherabletoassenttotheargumentsbywhichKantarrivesathisconclusion。
1mustnowpointout——ifithasnotlongbeenapparenttothereader——thattheself-evidentprincipleslaiddownin§；3donotspeciallybelongtoIntuitionisminthe，restrictedsensewhich，forcleardistinctionofmethods，Igavetothistermattheoutsetofourinvestigation。TheaxiomofPrudence，asIhavegivenit，isaself-evidentprinciple，impliedinRationalEgoismascommonlyaccepted。
Again，theaxiomofJusticeorEquityasabovestated——`thatsimilarcasesoughttobetreatedsimilarly’——belongsinallitsapplicationstoUtilitarianismasmuchastoanysystemcommonlycalledIntuitional:whiletheaxiomofRationalBenevolenceis，inmyview，requiredasarationalbasisfortheUtilitariansystem。
Accordingly，IfindthatIarrive，inmysearchforreallyclearandcertainethicalintuitions，atthefundamentalprincipleofUtilitarianism。Imust，however，admitthatthethinkerswhoinrecenttimeshavetaughtthislattersystem，havenot，forthemostpart，expresslytriedtoexhibitthetruthoftheirfirstprinciplebymeansofanysuchprocedureasthatabovegiven。Still，whenIexaminethe``proof’’ofthe``principleofUtility’’presentedbythemostpersuasiveandprobablythemostinfluentialamongEnglishexpositorsofUtilitarianism，——J。S。