Attitude of One Amoral Psychologist

This is an attempt to describe an amoral psychologist's attitude of mind, and not to defend it. The amoral attitude is something very different from an emotional opposition to this or that particular moral dogma; or to the whole of this or that system of moral valuations, or their rationalizations; or to the authority of this or that “infallible” version of an “infallible” book, such as the Koran, The Book of Mormon, Science and Health or the Bible; or an infallible spokesman for any such supernatural intelligence, such as the Prophet Seer and Revelator of the Mormon Church or the Pope of Rome. Accordingly, the amoralist is as much opposed to new moral values and standards as to the ancient ones; as much opposed to new moral sentimentalisms as to the older ones; to new moral superstitions as to the older one*s. In short, the intelligent amoralist, who is also a specialist in the psychology of the emotions, discredits all the impulses and intellectual methods which underlie each and every particular moral judgment and valuation, whether new or old; whether conventional or heretical; whether standardized or rebellious. The evil of all morals lies in their subjective and “unconscious” sources; in their immature or morbid sentimentalisms, rather than in the resulting moral dogmas. For such amoralists, all moral valuations are considered symptomatic or suggestive of a morbid psychology, or of the ignorant imitators of psychopathic moralists. Thus moral values present only problems of mental hygiene (mainly of the “split personality”) and problems of mental immaturity (that is, of evolutionary psychology).

Every variety of “split personality” (or moralist) must see human conduct and human situations only through conflicting feelings; only through the “unconscious” workings of the impulsive nature. Consequently, the thorough moralist usually can see only irreconcilable opposites and believes that there is but to choose between them. He cannot be wholly devoted to the scient