Jeremy Bentham

第39章

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第39章

Jeremy Bentham Leslie Stephen

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Jeremy Bentham
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  andwhichwillgivetohissystemnotsuchunityasarisesfromthedevelopmentofanabstractlogicalprinciple,butsuchasisintroducedintothephysicalscienceswhenweareabletorangealltheindefinitelycomplexphenomenawhichariseundersomesimplelawofforce。IfBentham’saimcouldhavebeenachieved,’utility’wouldhavebeeninlegislativetheorieswhatgravitationisinastronomicaltheories。Allhumanconductbeingruledbypainandpleasure,wecouldcompareallmotivesandactions,andtraceouttheconsequencesofanygivenlaw。Ishallhavehereaftertoconsiderhowthisconceptionworkedindifferentmindsandwasappliedtodifferentproblems:whatwerethetenableresultstowhichitled,andwhatweretheerrorscausedbytheimpliedovernightofsomeessentialconsiderations。

  Certainweaknessesarealmosttooobvioustobespecified。Heclaimedtobeconstructingascience,comparabletothephysicalsciences。Theattemptwasobviouslychimericalifwearetotakeitseriously。Themakeshiftdoctrinewhichhesubstitutesforpsychologywouldbeasufficientproofoftheincapacityforhistask。HehadprobablynotreadsuchwritersasHartleyorCondillac,whomighthavesuggestedsomeostensiblysystematictheory。Ifhehadlittlepsychologyhehadnotevenaconceptionof’sociology。’The’felicificcalculus’

  isenoughtoshowtheinadequacyofhismethod。Thepurposeistoenableustocalculatetheeffectsofaproposedlaw。Youproposetosendrobberstothegallowsorthegaol。Youmust,saysBentham,reckonupalltheevilsprevented:thesufferingtotherobbed,andtothosewhoexpecttoberobbed,ontheonehand;and,ontheother,theevilscaused,thesufferingtotherobber,andtothetax-payerwhokeepstheconstable;thenstrikeyourbalanceandmakeyourlawiftheevilspreventedexceedtheevilscaused。Somesuchcalculationisdemandedbyplaincommonsense。Itpointstothelineofinquirydesirable。Butcanitbeadequate?Toestimatetheutilityofalawwemusttakeintoaccountallits’effects。’Whatarethe’effects’ofalawagainstrobbery?Theyareallthatisimpliedinthesecurityofproperty。TheycorrespondtothedifferencebetweenEnglandintheeighteenthcenturyandEnglandinthetimeofHengistandHorsa;betweenacountrywherethesupremacyoflawisestablished,andacountrystillundertheruleofthestronghand。Bentham’smethodmaybeapplicableatagivenmoment,whenthesocialstructureisalreadyconsolidatedanduniform。Itwouldrepresentthepracticalargumentsforestablishingthepolice-forcedemandedbyColquhoun,andshowthedisadvantagesoftheoldconstablesandwatchmen。Bentham,thatis,givesanadmirablemethodforsettlingdetailsofadministrativeandlegislativemachinery,anddealingwithparticularcaseswhenoncethemainprinciplesoflawandorderareestablished。Thoseprinciples,too,maydependupon’utility。’

  bututilitymustbetakeninawidersensewhenwehavetodealwiththefundamentalquestions。Wemustconsiderthe’utility’ofthewholeorganisation,notthefitnessofseparatedetails。Finally,ifBenthamisweakinpsychologyandinsociology,heisclearlynotsatisfactoryinethics。Moralityis,accordingtohim,onthesameplanewithlaw。Thedifferenceisnotinthespheretowhichtheyapply,orintheendtowhichtheyaredirected;butsolelyinthe’sanction。’Thelegislatorusesthreatsofphysicalsuffering;

  themoralistthreatsof’popular’disapproval。Either’sanction’maybemostapplicabletoagivencase;butthequestionismerelybetweendifferentmeanstothesameendundervaryingconditions。Thisimpliesthe’external’

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