on that occasion,” or “It would have been perfectly right for him to have done this,” although as a matter of fact, he did not do it; or we say, “You ought to do this,” or “It will be quite right for you to do this,” although it subsequently turns out, that the action in question is one which you do not actually perform. Our theory says, then, with regard to all actions, which were in this sense possible in the past, that they would have been right, if and only if they would have produced a maximum of pleasure; just as it says that all actual past voluntary actions were right, if and only if they did produce a maximum of pleasure. And similarly, with regard to all voluntary actions which will be possible in the future, it says that they will be right, if and only if they would produce a maximum of pleasure; just as it says with regard to all that will actually be done, that they will be right, if and only if they do produce a maximum of pleasure.
Our theory does, then, even in its first part, deal, in a sense, with possible actions, as well as actual ones. It professes to tell us, not
