theoracletowhomallmenmightappealwithconfidence，thoughalittletoo，apttofindoutthatallsideswereintheright。WhenhewenttoIndiahetookwithhimsomeofthescholasticwritersandtheworksofKantandFichte，thenknowntofewEnglishmen。OneofMacaulay’sexperiencesatHollandHousewasavisionofMackintoshverifyingaquotationfromAquinas。104Itmusthavebeendelightful。Theethical’dissertation，’
however，hadtobeshortenedbyomittingallreferencetoGermanphilosophy，andtheaccountoftheschoolmeniscursory。ItiseasytoseewhythesuaveandamiableMackintoshappearedtoMilltobea’dandy’philosopher，anunctuousspinnerofplatitudestoimposeuponthefrequentersofHollandHouse，andhopelesslyconfusedintheattempttomakecompromisesbetweencontradictorytheories。ItisequallyeasytoseewhytoMackintoshthethoroughgoingandstrenuousMillappearedtobeaone-sidedfanatic，blindtothemeritsofallsystemsoutsidethenarrowlimitsofBenthamism，andmakingevenphilanthropyhateful。HadMackintoshlivedtoreadMill’sFragment，hewouldcertainlyhavethoughtitaproofthattheUtilitarianswereasdogmaticandacridashehadeverasserted。
Mackintosh’spositioninethicsexplainsMill’santagonism。NeitherAquinasnorKantnorFichteinfluencedhim。HisdoctrineisthenaturaloutcomeoftheScottishphilosophy。
HutchesonhadbothinventedBentham’ssacredformula，andtaughtthe’MoralSense’theorywhichBenthamattacked。Tostudythemoralityfromthepointofviewof’inductivepsychology’istostudythemoralfaculty，andtorejectthepurely’intellectual’system。Toassignthepositionofthemoralfacultyinthepsychologicalsystemistoshowitsutility。Ontheotherhand，itwastheveryaimoftheschooltoavoidthescepticalconclusionsofHumeinphilosophy，andinethicstoavoidthecompleteidentificationofmoralitywithutility。Theremustbeadistinctionbetweenthejudgments，’thisisright，’and’thisisuseful’even’usefultomeningeneral。’
Hence，ontheonehand，moralityisimmediatelydictatedbyaspecialsenseorfaculty，andyetitsdictatescoincidewiththedictatesofutility。