第34章
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  105。Thecaseofthe’Kingv。Cobbett’,1804,whichledtotheproceedingsagainstMrJusticeJohnsonin1805——Cobbett’sStateTrials,xxix。

  106。Works,x,448-49。

  107。Ibid。,x,458。

  108。Works,x,471,570。

  109。Ibid。,x,471。

  110。Ibid。,x,461。

  111。Ibid。,x,471。

  112。Ibid。,x,490。

  113。PrintedinWorks,x,495-97。

  114。Ibid。,x,570

  115。Ibid。,x,476。

  116。Works,x,485。

  117。Bain’sJamesMill,156。ChurchofEnglandismandNotPaulbutJesuswerealsowrittenatFordAbbey。

  118。Works,x,433,448。

  119。Ibid。,x,457-58,Bain’sJamesMill,79。

  120。Works,553-54,565。

  121。Ibid。,xi,53。

  122。SeeMemoirsofJ。Q。Adams1874,iii,511,520,532,535-39,540,544,560,562-63;andBentham’slettertoAdamsinWorks,x,554。

  123。Works,xi,23。

  124。Ibid。,xi,40。

  125。SeecorrespondenceuponhiscodificationplansinRussia,AmericaandGenevainWorks,iv,451-594。

  126。Borrow’sBibleinSpain,ch。xxx。

  127。Works,viii,555-600。

  128。Ibid。,x,534。SeeBlaguière’senthusiasticlettertoBentham——Works,x,475。

  129。See,however,Bentham’sreferencetothisstory——Works,xi,66。

  130。Works,x,539。

  131。Ibid。,x,522。

  132。Works,x,516。

  133。Ibid。,x,591。

  134。AletterfromMillintheUniversityCollegeMSS。describesamisunderstandingaboutborrowedbooks,afertile,buthardlyadequatecauseofquarrel。

  135。Bowring’sreligiousprinciplespreventedhimfromadmittingsomeofBentham’sworkstothecollectiveedition。

  136。Works,x,471-72。

  137。Ibid。,x,576。

  138。Ibid。,x,588。

  139。Works,xi,37。PaperspreservedatUniversityCollegeshowthatduringPeel’slawreformsatthistimeBenthamfrequentlycommunicatedwithhim。

  140。Ibid。,xi,50。

  141。Ibid。,v,549。

  142。Ibid。,v,609。

  143。Works,x,594。

  144。Ibid。,xi,26。

  145。Ibid。,xi,13,28。

  146。Works,x,468。

  147。Ibid。,x,551。

  148。Ibid。,xi,75。

  149。Ibid。,xi,35。

  150。Mill’sDissertations,i,354and392n。

  151。Works,x,442。

  152。Works,x,467;xi,79。

  153。Ibid。,xi,23-24。

  154。Ibid。,x,450。

  CHAPTERVI

  BENTHAM’SDOCTRINE

  I。FIRSTPRINCIPLES

  Bentham’spositionisinonerespectunique。Therehavebeenmanygreaterthinkers;buttherehasbeenhardlyanyonewhoseabstracttheoryhasbecomeinthesamedegreetheplatformofanactivepoliticalparty。ToacceptthephilosophywastobealsopledgedtopracticalapplicationsofUtilitarianism。

  What,then,wastherevelationmadetotheBenthamites,andtowhatdiditoweitsinfluence?ThecentraldoctrineisexpressedinBentham’sfamousformula:thetestofrightandwrongisthe’greatesthappinessofthegreatestnumber。’Therewasnothingnewinthisassertion。ItonlyexpressesthefactthatBenthamacceptedoneofthetwoalternativeswhichhavecommendedthemselvestoconflictingschoolseversinceethicalspeculationwaserectedintoaseparatedepartmentofthought。Moreover,thesidewhichBenthamtookwas,wemaysay,thewinningside。TheordinarymoralityofthetimewasUtilitarianinsubstance。Hutchesonhadinventedthesacredphrase:andHumehadbasedhismoralsystemupon’utility。’1*BenthamhadlearnedmuchfromHelvétiustheFrenchfreethinker,andhadbeenanticipatedbyPaleytheEnglishdivine。

  ThewritingsinwhichBenthamdealsexplicitlywiththegeneralprinciplesofEthicswouldhardlyentitlehimtoahigherpositionthanthatofadiscipleofHumewithoutHume’ssubtlety;orofPaleywithoutPaley’ssingulargiftofexposition。Why,then,didBentham’smessagecomeuponhisdiscipleswiththeforceandfreshnessofanewrevelation?OuranswermustbeingeneraltermsthatBenthamfoundednotadoctrinebutamethod:andthatthedoctrinewhichcametohimsimplyasageneralprinciplewasinhishandsapotentinstrumentappliedwithmostfruitfulresultstoquestionsofimmediatepracticalinterest。

  Beyondthegeneralprincipleofutility,therefore,wehavetoconsidertheorganon,constructedbyhimtogiveeffecttoageneralprincipletoovaguetobeappliedindetail。ThefullestaccountofthisiscontainedintheIntroductiontothePrinciplesofMoralsandLegislation。Thisworkunfortunatelyisafragment,butitgiveshisdoctrinevigorouslyanddecisively,withoutlosingitselfintheminutedetailswhichbecomewearisomeinhislaterwritings。

  Benthamintendeditasanintroductiontoapenalcode;andhisinvestigationsenthimbacktomoregeneralproblems。Hefounditnecessarytosettletherelationsofthepenalcodetothewholebodyoflaw;andtosettlethesehehadtoconsidertheprincipleswhichunderlielegislationingeneral。

  Hehadthus,hesays,to’createanewscience,’andthentoelaborateonedepartmentofthescience。The’introduction’wouldcontainprolegomenanotonlyforthepenalcodebutfortheotherdepartmentsofinquirywhichheintendedtoexhaust。2*Hehadtolaydownprimarytruthswhichshouldbetothissciencewhattheaxiomsaretomathematicalsciences。3*Thesetruthsthereforebelongtothesphereofconductingeneral,andincludehisethicaltheory。

  ’Naturehasplacedmankind’thatishisopeningphrase’underthegovernanceoftwosovereignmasters,painandpleasure。Itisforthemalonetopointoutwhatweoughttodo,aswellastodeterminewhatweshalldo。’thereistheunassailablebasis。IthadbeenlaiddownasunequivocallybyLocke,4*

  andhadbeenembodiedinthebrilliantcoupletsofPope’sEssayonMan。5*

  Attheheadofthecurioustableofuniversalknowledge,givenintheChrestomathia,wehaveEudaemonicsasanall-comprehensivenameofwhicheveryartisabranch。6*Eudaemonics,asanart,correspondstothescience’ontology。’

  Itcoversthewholesphereofhumanthought。Itmeansknowledgeingeneralasrelatedtoconduct。Itsfirstprinciple,again,requiresnomoreproofthantheprimaryaxiomsofarithmeticorgeometry。Onceunderstood,itisbythesameactofthemindseentobetrue。Somepeople,indeed,donotseeit。Benthamratherignoresthananswerssomeoftheirarguments。Buthismodeoftreatingopponentsindicateshisownposition。’Happiness,’itisoftensaid,istoovagueawordtobethekeystoneofanethicalsystem;

  itvariesfrommantoman:oritis’subjective,’andthereforegivesnoabsoluteorindependentgroundformorality。Amoralityof’eudaemonism’

  mustbean’empirical’morality,andwecanneverextortfromitthat’categoricalimperative,’withoutwhichwehaveinsteadofatruemoralityasimplesystemof’expediency。’FromBentham’spointofviewthecriticismmustberetorted。

  Heregards’happiness’aspreciselytheleastequivocalofwords;and’happiness’

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