“I.

A perception of the nature and quality of actions, as just or unjust,—right or wrong;—and

a conviction of certain duties, as of justice, veracity, and benevolence, which every man
owes to his fellow-men. Every man, in his own case, again, expects the same offices from
others; and, on this reciprocity of feeling, is founded the precept, which is felt to be one of
universal obligation, to do to others as we would that they should do to us.

II. From this primary moral impression, there arises, by a most natural sequence, a
conviction of the existence and superintendence of a great moral Governor of the universe,
—a being of infinite perfection and infinite purity. A belief in this Being, as the first great
cause, is derived, as we have formerly seen, by a simple step of reasoning, from a survey of
the works of nature, taken in connexion with the First Truth, that every event must have an
adequate cause. Our sense of his moral attributes arises, with a feeling of equal certainty,
when, from the moral impressions of our own minds, we infer the moral attributes of him
who thus formed us.

III. From[…]”

Excerpt From: John Abercrombie. “The Philosophy of the Moral Feelings.” iBooks.
https://books.apple.com/id/book/the-philosophy-of-the-moral-feelings/id511136753 “The
consideration of these important objects of belief will afterwards occur to us in various parts
of our inquiry. They are briefly stated here, in reference to the place which they hold as First
Truths, or primary articles of moral belief, which arise by a natural and obvious chain of
sequence, in the moral conviction of every sound understanding. For the truth of them we
appeal not to any process of reasoning, properly so called, but to the conviction which
forces itself upon every regulated mind. Neither do we go abroad among savage nations, to
inquire whether the impression of them be universal; for this may be obscured in
communities, as it is in individuals, by a course of moral degradation. We appeal to the
casuist himself, whether, in the calm moment of reflection, he can divest himself of their
power. We appeal to the feelings of the man who, under the consciousness of guilt, shrinks
from the dread of a present Deity and the anticipation of a future reckoning. But chiefly we
appeal to the conviction of him, in whom conscience retains its rightful supremacy, and who
habitually cherishes these momentous truths”

Excerpt From: John Abercrombie. “The Philosophy of the Moral Feelings.” iBooks.
https://books.apple.com/id/book/the-philosophy-of-the-moral-feelings/id511136753