IfMill’sdoctrineleadstoanimpossiblestrictnessinonedirection,itleadstolessedifyingresultsinanother。Wehaveomitted’motive’andcometothecriticalquestion,How,afterall,isthemoralcodetobeenforced?Byoverlookingthisquestionanddeclaring’motive’tobeirrelevant,wegettheparadoxalreadyacceptedbyBentham。Hisdefinitionofvirtueisactionforthegoodofothersaswellasofourselves。Inwhatwayistheexistenceofsuchactiontobereconciledwiththisdoctrine?Whatarethemotiveswhichmakemencountthehappinessofotherstobeequallyvaluablewiththeirown?or,intheUtilitarianlanguage,Whatisthe’sanction’ofmorality?AfterallBentham’sinsistenceuponthe’self-preferenceprinciple’andMill’saccountofselfishnessinhispoliticaltheory,wearesuddenlytoldthatmoralitymeansaloftyandrigidcodeinwhichthehappinessofallistheoneend。HereagainMillisentangledbythecharacteristicdifficultyofhispsychology。Toanalyseistodivideobjectsintoseparateunits。Whenhehastodowithcomplexobjectsandrelationsapparentlyreciprocal,heisforcedtorepresentthembyasimplesequence。Thetwofactorsarenotmutuallydependentbutdistinctthingssomehowconnectedintime。Oneresultishisaccountof’ends’or’motives’thetwo,asheobserves,aresynonymous。142Theendissomethingtobegainedbytheact,the’association’ofwhichwiththeactconstitutesa’desire。’This,wehaveseen,alwaysreferstothefuture。143Inacting,then,Iamalwaysguidedbycalculationsoffuturepleasuresorpains。IbelievethistobeoneofthemostunfortunatebecauseoneofthemostplausibleofUtilitarianfallacies。Ifwearedeterminedbypainsandpleasures,itisinonesenseascontradictorytospeakofourbeingdeterminedbyfuturepainsandpleasuresastospeakofourbeingnourishedto-daybyto-morrow’sdinner。The’futurepleasure’doesnotexist;theanticipatedpleasureactsbymakingthepresentactionpleasant;
andwethenmoveasitissaidalongthelineofleastresistance。Certainconductisintrinsicallypleasurableorpainful,andthefuturepleasureonlyactsthroughthepresentforetaste。When,however,weregardthepleasureasfutureandassomehowaseparablething,wecanonlyexpresstheseundeniablefactsbyacceptingapurelyegoisticconclusion。Weare,ofcourse,movedbyourownfeelings,aswebreathewithourownlungsanddigestwithourownstomachs。Butwhenweacceptthedoctrineof’ends’thisharmlessandself-evidenttruthispervertedintothestatementthatour’end’mustbeourownpleasure;thatwecannotbereallyordirectlyunselfish。Theanalysis,indeed,issodefectivethatitcanhardlybeappliedintelligibly。
Humeobservesthatnomanwouldresthisfootindifferentlyuponastooloragoutytoe。Theactionitselfofgivingpainwouldbepainful,andcannotbeplausiblyresolvedintoananticipationofan’end。’This,again,isconspicuouslytrueofallthetrulysocialemotions。Notonlytheconscience,butthesenseofshameorhonour,orprideandvanityactpowerfullyandinstantaneouslyaspresentmotiveswithoutnecessaryreferencetoanyfutureresults。TheknowledgethatIamgivingpainorcausingfuturepainisintrinsicallyandimmediatelypainfultothenormalhumanbeing,andthesupposed’analysis’isthroughoutafiction。Mill,however,likeBentham,takesitforgranted,butperceivesmoreclearlythanBenthamthedifficultytowhichitleads。How,fromatheoryofpureselfishness,arewetogetamoralityofgeneralbenevolence?Theanswerisgivenbytheuniversal’association。’Wearegoverned,heholds,byourownemotions;ourendisourownpleasure,andwehavetoconsiderhowthisenddictatesadesireforgeneralhappiness。Heexpoundswithgreatvigourtheprocessbywhichtheloveoffriends,childrenandparentsandcountrymaybegraduallydevelopedthroughtheassociationofourpleasureswiththefellow-creatureswhocausedthem。J。S。Millregardshisexpositionas’almostperfect,’144andsaysthatitshowshowthe’acquiredsentiments’——themoralsentimentsandsoforth——maybegraduallydeveloped;maybecome’moreintenseandpowerfulthananyoftheelementsoutofwhichtheymayhavebeenformed,andmayalsointheirmaturitybeperfectlydisinterested。’JamesMilldeclaresthattheanalysisdoesnotaffecttherealityofthesentimentsanalysed。Gratituderemainsgratitude,andgenerositygenerosity,justasawhiterayremainswhiteafterNewtonhaddecomposeditintoraysofdifferentcolours。145Hereoncemorewehavethegreatprincipleofindissolubleassociationormentalchemistry。
Grantingthattheemotionssogeneratedmaybereal,wemaystillaskwhethertheanalysisbesufficient。
JamesMill’saccountofthewayinwhichtheyaregeneratedleavesadoubt。
Moralityisfirstimpresseduponusbyauthority。Ourparentspraiseandblame,rewardandpunish,thusareformedassociationsofpraiseandblamewithcertainactions。Then,weformfurtherassociationswiththecausesofpraiseandblameandthusacquirethesentimentsof’praise-worthiness’
and’blame-worthiness。’Thesensibilitytopraiseandblamegenerallyformsthe’popularsanction,’andthis,whenpraise-worthinessisconcerned,becomesthemoralsanction。146Hereweseethatmoralityisregardedassomehowtheproductofa’sanction’;thatis,oftheactionofpraiseandblamewiththeirusualconsequencesupontheindividual。
Hissensibilitycauseshimthroughassociationtoacquirethehabitswhichgenerallybringpraiseandblame;andultimatelythesequalitiesbecomeattractivefortheirownsake。Thedifficultyistoseewherethelineiscrossedwhichdividestrulymoraloraltruisticconductfrommereprudence。
Admittingthatassociationmayimpelustoconductwhichinvolvesself-sacrifice,wemaystillaskwhethersuchconductisreasonable。Associationproducesbeliefinerroraswellasintruth。IfIloveamanbecauseheisusefulandcontinuetolovehimwhenhecannolongerbeuseful,amInotmisguided?
IfIweararaggedcoat,becauseitwasoncesmart,myconductiseasilyexplainedasaparticularkindoffolly。IfIamgoodtomyoldmotherwhenshecannolongernurseme,amInotguiltyofasimilarfolly?Inshort,amanwhoinferredfromMill’sprinciplesthathewouldneverdogoodwithoutbeingpaidforit,wouldbehardlyinconsistent。Yourassociations,Millwouldsay,areindissoluble。Hemightanswer,Iwilltry——itissurelynotsohardtodissolveatieofgratitude!Granting,inshort,thatMillgivesanaccountofsuchvirtueasmaybemadeofenlightenedself-interest,hedoesnotsucceedinmakingintelligibletheconductwhichalonedeservesthenameofvirtuous。Thetheoryalwayshaltsatthepointwheresomethingmoreisrequiredthananexternalsanction,andsupposesachangeofcharacteraswellasawidercalculationofpersonalinterest。
Theimperfectionofthistheorymaybetakenforgranted。Ithasbeenexposedbyinnumerablecritics。
Itismoreimportanttoobserveonecauseoftheimperfection。Mill’sargumentcontainsanelementofrealworth。Itmaybeheldtorepresentfairlythehistoricaldevelopmentofmorals。Thatmoralityisfirstconceivedasanexternallawderivingitssanctityfromauthority;thatitisdirectedagainstobviouslyhurtfulconduct;andthatitthusservesasaprotectionunderwhichthemoregenuinemoralsentimentscandevelopthemselves,I
believetobeinfullaccordancewithsoundtheoriesofethics。ButMillwasthroughouthamperedbytheabsenceofanytheoryofevolution。Hehadtorepresentaseriesofchangesastakingplaceintheindividualwhichcanonlybeconceivedastheproductofalongandcomplexsocialchange。
Heisforcedtorepresentthegrowthofmoralityasanaccretionofnew’ends’duetoassociation,notasanintrinsicdevelopmentofthecharacteritself。Hehastomakemoralityoutofatomicsensationsandideascollectedinclustersandtrainswithoutanydistinctreferencetotheorganicconstitutionoftheindividualorofsociety,andassomehoworotherdeduciblefromtheisolatedhumanbeing,whoremainsaconstant,thoughhecollectsintogroupsgovernedbyexternalsanctions。Heseesthatmoralityisformedsomehoworother,buthecannotshowthatitiseitherreasonableoranessentialfactofhumannature。Here,again,weshallseewhatproblemwassettohisson,Finally,ifMilldidnotexplainethicaltheorysatisfactorily,itmustbeaddedincommonjusticethathewashimselfanexcellentexampleofthequalitiesforwhichhetriedtoaccount。Alifeofdevotiontopublicobjectsandaconscientiousdischargeofprivatedutiesisjustthephenomenonforwhichaclusterof’ideas’and’associations’seemstobeaninadequateaccount。How,itmighthavebeenasked,doyouexplainJamesMill?Hismainpurpose,too,wastolaydownaruleofduty,almostmathematicallyascertainable,andnottobedisturbedbyanysentimentalism,mysticism,orrhetoricalfoppery。If,intheattempttofreehishearersfromsuchelements,herantheriskofreducingmoralitytoalowerlevelandmadeitappearasunamiableassoundmoralitycanappear,itmustbeadmittedthatinthisrespecttoohistheoriesreflectedhispersonalcharacter。
Notes:
1。Foranaccountofthesewritersandtheirrelationtothepre-revolutionaryschools,seeLesIdé;ologuesbyF。Picavet1891。
2。MacveyNapier’sCorrespondence,p。424。
3。CharlesFranç;oisDominiquedeVillers1767-1815wasaFrenchofficer,whoemigratedin1792,andtookrefugeatLü;beck。HebecameprofoundlyinterestedinGermanlifeandliterature,andendeavouredtointroduceaknowledgeofGermanspeculationtohiscountrymen。HischiefbookswerethisexpositionofKantandanessayupontheReformationofLuther1803,whichwentthroughseveraleditions,andwastranslatedbyJamesMillin1805。
AninterestingaccountofVillersisintheBiographieUniverselle。
4。SeeCockburn’sMemorialsforagoodnoticeofthis。
5。Stewart’sWorks,iv,345。
6。LadyHolland’sLifeofSmith,ii,388。
7。InquiryintotheRelationsofCauseandEffectthirdedition,pp。178,180,andpartiv,sec。
6。
8。ExaminationofHamiltonfourthedition,p。379。
9。CauseandEffect,pp。184-87。
10。CauseandEffect,p。197。
11。Ibid。,p。239seq。
12。Ibid。,p。244。
13。Ibid。,p。150。
14。Ibid。,p。357。
15。CauseandEffect,p。313。
16。CauseandEffect,p。482。Brownthinksthatwecanlogicallydisprovetheexistenceofmotionbythehareandtortoiseargument,andshouldthereforedisregardlogic。
17。Brown’sLecture,1851,p。167,Lect。xxvi。
第45章