Similarly a way of behaviour may either be
defeated on its own merits, and by sheer force be
made to die out on its own merits, or we may cut
deeper. A minor premise, for instance, may be
found to be wrong, and the act felt not to lie in
the path of the end we wanted. " I wished to kill



54 THE LOGIC OF WILL

this villain for the good of the city, but the good of
the city itself forbids it." S is not the proper kind
of M ; we come to a more correct feeling of what
the principle covers and what it excludes. Or it
may be the major premise that is condemned.
" The good man must not kill here " becomes " The
good man must not kill for hate's sake, for he must
not hate." And in both ways we increase the
safety of our system ; the impulse to murder is less
likely to recur.
Of course the conflict may end the other way.
An examination of what lies behind may occasionally
convince us that our system must yield in this place
to the rebel suggestion. But whichever result does
come will be more conclusive and final than if the
struggle had remained on the surface.
