Article September 20, 1982 Issue

The "man in an iron cage"

STEVEN LEE FAIR

A newspaper article discussing the conflicting views of behavioral scientists on the role of guilt described a test to measure one's tendency to feel guilty. One of the questions gave the test-taker the clause "If I committed adultery" and asked him to choose between two conclusions: (1) "I hope I would be punished very deeply" or (2) "I hope I would enjoy it."^{ The New York Times, July 24, 1979 .}

Intriguing question. How would you answer? Of course, the best answer is "I would never commit adultery in the first place." Yet the question does raise an important ethical issue. When a person does something wrong, should he feel guilty?

An incident in Mrs. Eddy's life sheds interesting light on the problem of guilt. She was allowed to visit President Garfield's assassin in his cell. In her account of the visit she says, "He had no sense of his crime; but regarded his act as one of simple justice, and himself as the victim. My few words touched him; he sank back in his chair, limp and pale; his flippancy had fled. The jailer thanked me, and said, 'Other visitors have brought to him bouquets, but you have brought what will do him good.'"^{ Miscellaneous Writings, p. 112.}

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