Part 6 (2/2)
_Maxim of the Mean or Average._
2. Addressing Muslims the Qur'an says:--
[Arabic: wa-ka-?alika ga?alnak.u.m ?ummatan wasa?an li-takunu uhada?a ?ala n-nas]
”We have thus made you a middle nation (= a moderate people) in order that you should be an example to mankind.”--i. 137.
One of the ways in which G.o.d has made Muslims a moderate people is by enjoining them to avoid extreme courses of action and to adopt the middle or the mean course whenever and wherever it is possible[76].
The Maxim of the Mean is the objective counter-part of the subjective Principle of Moderation. The latter says: Don't over--, or under-exercise any of your faculties; and the former says: Don't have too much or too little of any thing. Too much of any thing is good for nothing. Too little of it is worse than nothing. ”Too much” and ”too little” are relative terms and signify nothing by themselves. It is only with reference to oneself and one's environment at any particular time and place that they acquire a meaning as ”excess” and ”defect”
respectively. I cannot explain it better than give a few instances in a tabular form where the ”mean” comes between the ”excess” and the ”defect” of a quality of the head or heart, or a course of action.
(1) Qualities of the Head (Reason):--
_Excess. Mean. Defect._
Caution Prudence Neglect Doubt Conviction Uncertainty Conceit Modesty Diffidence Sensitive Attentive Indifferent
(2) Qualities of the Heart (Pa.s.sions):--
Cowardice Courage Rashness Sensuality Temperance Abstinence Bigot Enthusiastic Lukewarm
(3) Courses of Action:--
Restriction Liberty Licence Flattery Courtesy Rudeness Favouritism Justice Injustice Prodigal Generous Miserly
You will find out for yourself what are the appropriate qualities or courses of conduct, of which the excess, mean and defect are expressed by the words given above. Fear, for example, is the feeling of which excess is Cowardice and defect is Rashness, while the mean is Courage.
Similarly as regards one's own opinion of one's powers, excess is Conceit and defect is Diffidence, while the mean is Modesty. Again too much or too little restraint on action is Restriction or Licence while the mean is Liberty.
It will be a useful exercise to make a long list of such words as express the difference of _degrees_ of the various qualities or functions of Reason, Pa.s.sion and Action (= Knowledge, Feeling and Will.) But it will _not_ always be possible to find three contrasted words, like those in the table, for every quality or action; because no language is so perfect as to have separate and single words to express the immense number and manifold shades of ideas which our mind is capable of entertaining. Still the fact is duly recognized by modern Science that there are differences not only of kind but also of degree in everything--ideas, feelings, desires, actions, objects and attributes of objects--with which we are concerned. Although you may not have a word expressive of degree in every case, yet you can _practically_ ascertain the extremes and the mean in all cases without exception, and can so order your conduct as to avoid the one and adopt the other in all cases. I may point out here that ”_the Mean_” is not the ”arithmetical mean” (like 6 which is the arithmetical mean of 5 and 8) but only _an approximately medium or middle course of conduct--via media_.[77] [Arabic: khair ul umur ausatuha]
You may object that, since the ascertainment of the mean in each case requires calm thought with reference to yourself and your environment, the rule is too difficult to follow in these days of quick communication, speedy locomotion, and urgent action. I answer that it is but an _ideal_ rule of conduct. Like all rules of Logic (Thought), aesthetics (Beauty), or Ethics (Conduct), it sets before you an ideal which you should ever strive to attain though you may not attain it fully at any time. No thinker may have been absolutely logical, no Artist may have wrought a perfect work of beauty, and no man may have ever been quite moral. But that is no reason why thinkers, artists, and men generally, should not endeavour to attain perfection in their respective spheres of thought and action.
There is a further and greater objection to the rule of the middle course, _viz._, that, if followed strictly, it will reduce all men to a dead level of mediocrity, and will not foster the development of men of genius. I have to admit regretfully that such will be the case, and, as my next Note will show, it will be in accordance with a Law of Nature recently discovered. Some writers have even attempted to prove that _genius_ or excessive intelligence is a form of madness as bad as its opposite form, _imbecility_ or defective intelligence. They seem to believe that only the men of average intelligence are quite sane.
Great wits are sure to madness near allied And thin part.i.tions do their bounds divide.--_Dryden_.
The late Sir John Gorst created a sensation when he declared in the House of Commons that great countries were governed by mediocrities only.
The world knows nothing of its greatest men.--_Sir H.
Taylor._
+Note 11.+
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