Philosophershave，oflateyears，consideredchieflythetendencyofaffections，andhavegivenlittleattentiontotherelationwhichtheystandintothecausewhichexcitesthem。Incommonlife，however，whenwejudgeofanyperson’sconduct，andofthesentimentswhichdirectedit，weconstantlyconsiderthemunderboththeseaspects。Whenweblameinanothermantheexcessesoflove，ofgrief，ofresentment，wenotonlyconsidertheruinouseffectswhichtheytendtoproduce，butthelittleoccasionwhichwasgivenforthem。Themeritofhisfavourite，wesay，isnotsogreat，hismisfortuneisnotsodreadful，hisprovocationisnotsoextraordinary，astojustifysoviolentapassion。Weshouldhaveindulged，wesay；perhaps，haveapprovedoftheviolenceofhisemotion，hadthecausebeeninanyrespectproportionedtoit。
Whenwejudgeinthismannerofanyaffection，asproportionedordisproportionedtothecausewhichexcitesit，itisscarcepossiblethatweshouldmakeuseofanyotherruleorcanonbutthecorrespondentaffectioninourselves。If，uponbringingthecasehometoourownbreast，wefindthatthesentimentswhichitgivesoccasionto，coincideandtallywithourown，wenecessarilyapproveofthemasproportionedandsuitabletotheirobjects；ifotherwise，wenecessarilydisapproveofthem，asextravagantandoutofproportion。
Everyfacultyinonemanisthemeasurebywhichhejudgesofthelikefacultyinanother。Ijudgeofyoursightbymysight，ofyourearbymyear，ofyourreasonbymyreason，ofyourresentmentbymyresentment，ofyourlovebymylove。Ineitherhave，norcanhave，anyotherwayofjudgingaboutthem。
ThesamesubjectcontinuedWemayjudgeoftheproprietyorimproprietyofthesentimentsofanotherpersonbytheircorrespondenceordisagreementwithourown，upontwodifferentoccasions；either，first，whentheobjectswhichexcitethemareconsideredwithoutanypeculiarrelation，eithertoourselvesortothepersonwhosesentimentswejudgeof；or，secondly，whentheyareconsideredaspeculiarlyaffectingoneorotherofus。
1。Withregardtothoseobjectswhichareconsideredwithoutanypeculiarrelationeithertoourselvesortothepersonwhosesentimentswejudgeof；whereverhissentimentsentirelycorrespondwithourown，weascribetohimthequalitiesoftasteandgoodjudgment。Thebeautyofaplain，thegreatnessofamountain，theornamentsofabuilding，theexpressionofapicture，thecompositionofadiscourse，theconductofathirdperson，theproportionsofdifferentquantitiesandnumbers，thevariousappearanceswhichthegreatmachineoftheuniverseisperpetuallyexhibiting，withthesecretwheelsandspringswhichproductthem；allthegeneralsubjectsofscienceandtaste，arewhatweandourcompanionregardashavingnopeculiarrelationtoeitherofus。Webothlookatthemfromthesamepointofview，andwehavenooccasionforsympathy，orforthatimaginarychangeofsituationsfromwhichitarises，inordertoproduce，withregardtothese，themostperfectharmonyofsentimentsandaffections。If，notwithstanding，weareoftendifferentlyaffected，itariseseitherfromthedifferentdegreesofattention，whichourdifferenthabitsoflifeallowustogiveeasilytotheseveralpartsofthosecomplexobjects，orfromthedifferentdegreesofnaturalacutenessinthefacultyofthemindtowhichtheyareaddressed。