Inthefirstplace，CommonSensegivesusonly，atthebest，anestimatetrueforanaverageortypicalhumanbeing:and，aswehavealreadyseen，itisprobablethatanyparticularindividualwillbemoreorlessdivergentfromthistype。Inanycase，therefore，eachpersonwillhavetocorrecttheestimateofcommonopinionbytheresultsofhisownexperienceinordertoobtainfromittrustworthyguidanceforhisownconduct:andthisprocessofcorrection，itwouldseem，mustbeinvolvedinallthedifficultiesfromwhichwearetryingtoescape。
But，secondly，theexperienceofthemassofmankindisconfinedwithinlimitstoonarrowforitsresultstobeofmuchavailinthepresentinquiry。
Themajorityofhumanbeingsspendmostoftheirtimeinlabouringtoavertstarvationandseverebodilydiscomfort:andthebriefleisurethatremainstothem，aftersupplyingthebodilyneedsoffood，sleep，etc。，isspentinwaysdeterminedratherbyimpulse，routine，andhabit，thanbyadeliberateestimateofprobablepleasure。Itwouldseem，then，thatthecommonsensetowhichwehaveheretorefercanonlybethatofaminorityofcomparativelyrichandleisuredpersons。
Butagain，wecannottellthatthemassofmankind，oranysectionofthemass，isnotgenerallyandnormallyundertheinfluenceofsonicofthecausesofmal-observationpreviouslynoticed。Weavoidthe``idolsofthecave’’bytrustingCommonSense，butwhatistoguardusagainstthe``idolsofthetribe’’？Moreover，thecommonestimateofdifferentsourcesofhappinessseemstoinvolvealltheconfusionofideasandpointsofview，whichindefiningtheempiricalmethodofHedonismwehavetakensomepainstoeliminate。Inthefirstplaceitdoesnotdistinguishbetweenobjectsofnaturaldesireandsourcesofexperiencedpleasure。
NowwehaveseenBooki。chap。iv。thatthesetwoarenotexactlycoincident——indeedwefindnumerousexamplesofmenwhocontinuenotonlytofeelbuttoindulgedesires，thegratificationofwhichtheyknowbyampleexperiencetobeattendedwithmorepainthanpleasure。Andthereforethecurrentestimateofthedesirabilityofobjectsofpursuitcannotbetakentoexpresssimplymen’sexperienceofpleasureandpain:formenareapttothinkdesirablewhattheystronglydesire，whetherornottheyhavefounditconducivetohappinessonthewhole:andsothecommonopinionwilltendtorepresentacompromisebetweentheaverageforceofdesiresandtheaverageexperienceoftheconsequencesofgratifyingthem。