15
It may now be ask'd in general, concerning this pain or pleasure, that distinguishes moral
good and evil, From what principles is it derived , and whence does it arise in the human
mind? To this I reply, first, that `tis absurd to imagine, that in every particular instance,
these sentiments are produc'd by an original quality and primary constitution. For as the
number of our duties is, in a manner, infinite, `tis impossible that our original instincts
should extend to each of them, and from our very first infancy impress on the human
mind all that multitude of precepts, which are contain'd in the compleatest system of
ethics. Such a method of proceeding is not conformable to the usual maxims, by which
nature is conducted, where a few principles produce all that variety we observe in the
universe, and every thing is carry'd on in the easiest and most simple manner. 'Tis
necessary, therefore, to abridge these primary impulses, and find some more general
principles, upon which all our notions of morals are founded.
In other words, the most elegant explanation of this productivity is that the mind uses a
small number of principles to generate a potential infinity. This applies both to the individual’s
ability to process the grammar of a potentially infinite number of sentences as well as to the
individual’s ability to morally evaluate a number of different sorts of situation without apparent
limit. The ability to produce a limitless number of novel representations from a finite store of
initial representations appears to be due to the computational procedure of recursion, namely the
ability to apply an operation (e.g., addition) to its own result (e.g., 1+1=2, 2+1=3, 3+1=4, and so
on). The default position is that recursion is responsible for this infinity, since we have no idea
otherwise how it would be possible.
In the case of language, a simple illustration of recursion lies in the ability to generate a
new sentence by adding a “that”-clause to a pre-existing sentence, e.g. adding “Lee believes that
.” to any declarative sentence. The same operation can be applied an indefinite number of
times. Hence, one infers, both in the case of language and in the case of moral judgment, that the
mind/brain contains a finite number of representations and operations producing, at least
potentially, an infinite number of judgments due to recursive procedures.