首页 >出版文学> James Mill>第45章

第45章

  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。