首页 >出版文学> Jeremy Bentham>第19章

第19章

  28。Police,p。310。
  29。Police,p。105。
  30。Ibid。,p。13。
  31。Ibid。,p。211。
  32。Ibid。,p。136。
  33。Police,p。523。
  34。Ibid。,p。397。
  35。Police,p。60。
  36。Ibid。,p。481。
  37。Ibid。,p。7。
  38。Ibid。,p。298。
  39。Police,p。99。
  40。Bentham’sWorks,x,329seq。
  41。Ibid。,v。335。
  42。Bentham’sWorks,iv,3,121。
  43。Cobbet’sStateTrials,xvii,297-626。
  44。Police,p。340。
  45。Wilberforcestartedonthisplana’societyforenforcingtheking’sproclamation’in1786,whichwassupplementedbythesocietyfor’theSuppresionofVice’in1802。Idon’tsupposethatvicewasmuchsuppressed。SydneySmithridiculeditsperformanceintheEdinburghfor1809。Thearticleisinhisworks。Amoreinterestingsocietywasthatfor’betteringtheconditionofthepoor,’startedbySirThomasBernardandWilberforcein1796。
  46。BiographiaLiteraria1847,ii。327。
  47。HistoryoftheRise,ProgressandAccomplishmentoftheAbolitionoftheSlave-tradebytheBritishParliament1808。Secondenlargededition1839。ThechartwasonecauseoftheoffencetakenbyWilberforce’ssons。
  48。Cf。SirJ。Stephen’sEcclesiasticalBiographyTheEvanglicalSuccession。
  49。SeepassagescollectedinBirkbeckHill’sBoswell,ii,478-80,andcf。iii,200-204。BoswellwasattractedbyClarkson,butfinallymadeuphismindthattheabolitionoftheslave-tradewould’shutthegatesofmercyonmankind。’
  50。SeetheaccountofG。SharpinSirJ。Stephen’sEcclesiasticalBiographyChaphamSect。
  51。Cobbett’sStateTrials,xx,1-82。
  52。TheSocietydeterminedin1760’todisown’anyFriendconcernedintheslave-trade。
  53。MrConway,inhisLifeofPaine,attributes,Ithink,alittlemoretohisherothanisconsistentwithdueregardtohispredecessors;but,inanycase,hetookanearlypartinthemovement。
  54。SeeuponthissubjectMrJephson’sinterestingbookonThePlatform。
  55。France,p。20620thJuly1789。
  56。SeetheLifeofHorneTooke,byAlexanderStephens2vols。8vo。1813。
  JohnHorneaddedthenameTookein1782。
  57。Parl。Hist。xxi。751
  58。Thehistoryofthesesocietiesmaybefoundinthetrialsreportedinthetwenty-third,twenty-fourth,andtwenty-fifthvolumesofCobbett’sStateTrials,andinthereportsofthesecretcommitteesinthethirty-firstandthirty-fourthvolumesoftheParl。History。TherearematerialsinPlace’spapersintheBritishMuseumwhichhavebeenusedinE。Smith’sEnglishJacobins。
  59。Parl。Hist。xxix,130001341。
  60。Parl。Hist。xxiv,574-655。
  61。MrWallas’sLifeofPlace,p。25n。
  62。StateTrials,xxiv,575。
  63。Ibid。xxv。330。
  64。Ibid。xxv。390。
  65。Paul’sGodwin,i,147。
  66。Stephen,li,48,477。
  67。Ibid。ii,34-41,323,478-481。
  68。Ibid。ii。483。
  69。Bentham’sWorks,x,404。
  70。HewasmemberforOldSarum,180102;buthiscareerendedbyadeclaratoryactdisqualifyingforaseatmenwhohadreceivedholyorders。
  71。Bentham’sWorks,x。404;LiveofMackintosh,i,52;Paul’sGodwin,i,71;Coleridge’sTableTalk,8thMay1830and16thAugust1833。
  72。Stephens,ii,316,334,438。
  CHAPTERIV
  PHILOSOPHY
  I。JohnHorneTookeIhavesofardweltuponthesocialandpoliticalenvironmentoftheearlyUtilitarianmovement;andhavetriedalsotopointoutsomeofthespeculativetendenciesfosteredbytheposition。Ifitbeaskedwhatphilosophicaldoctrineswereexplicitlytaught,theanswermustbeaveryshortone。Englishphilosophybarelyexisted。Parrwassupposedtoknowsomethingaboutmetaphysics——
  apparentlybecausehecouldwritegoodLatin。Buttheinferencewashasty。
  Ofonebook,however,whichhadarealinfluence,Imustsaysomething,forthoughitcontainedlittledefinitephilosophy,itshowedwhatkindofphilosophywascongenialtothecommon-senseofthetime。Thesturdyradical,HorneTooke,hadbeenledtothestudyofphilologybyacharacteristicincident。
  Thelegalquestionhadarisenwhetherthewords,’She,knowingthatCrookehadbeenindictedforforgery,’didsoandso,containedanavermentthatCrookehadbeenindicted。TookearguedinalettertoDunning1*thattheydid;becausetheywereequivalenttothephrase,’Crookehadbeenindictedforforgery:she,knowingthat,’didsoandso。Thisraisesthequestion。
  Whatisthemeaningof’that’?Tooketookupthestudy,thinking,ashesays,thatitwouldthrowlightuponsomephilosophicalquestions。HelearnedsomeAnglo-SaxonandGothictotesthistheoryand,ofcourse,confirmedit。2*
  Thebookshowsingenuity,shrewdness,andindustry,andTookedeservescreditforseeingthenecessityofapplyingareallyhistoricalmethodtohisproblem,thoughhisresultswerenecessarilycrudeintheprescientificstageofphilology。
  Thebookismainlyalongstringofetymologies,whichreadersofdifferenttasteshavefoundintolerablydulloranamusingcollectionofcuriosities。
  Tookeheld,andsurelywithreason,thataninvestigationoflanguage,thegreatinstrumentofthought,mayhelptothrowlightupontheprocessofthinking。HeprofessestobeadiscipleofLockeinphilosophyasinpolitics。
  Locke,hesaid,3*madealuckymistakeincallinghisbookanessayuponhumanunderstanding;forhethusattractedmanywhowouldhavebeenrepelledhadhecalleditwhatitreallywas,’atreatiseuponwordsandlanguage。’
  AccordingtoTooke,infact,4*whatwecall’operationsofmind’areonly’operationsoflanguage。’Themindcontemplatesnothingbut’impressions,’
  thatis,’sensationsorfeelings,’whichLockecalled’ideas。’Lockemistookcompositionoftermsforcompositionofideas。Tocompoundideasisimpossible。
  Wecanonlyuseonetermasasignofmanyideas。Locke,again,supposedthataffirminganddenyingwereoperationsofthemind,whereastheyareonlyartificesoflanguage。5*
  Themind,then,canonlycontemplate,separatelyortogether,aggregatesof’ideas,’ultimateatoms,incapableofbeingpartedordissolved。Thereare,therefore,onlytwoclassesofwords,nounsandverbs;allothers,prepositions,conjunctions,andsoforth,beingabbreviations,akindofmentalshorthandtosavethetroubleofenumeratingtheseparateitems。Tooke,inshort,isathorough-goingnominalist。Therealities,accordingtohim,aresticks,stones,andmaterialobjects,orthe’ideas’which’represent’them。Theycanbestucktogetherortakenapart,butallthewordswhichexpressrelations,categories,andthelike,areinthemselvesmeaningless。Thespecialobjectsofhisscornare’Hermes’Harris,andMonboddo,whohadtriedtodefendAristotleagainstLocke。Monboddohadassertedthat’everykindofrelation’isapure’ideaoftheintellect’nottobeapprehendedbysense。6*Ifso,accordingtoTooke,itwouldbeanonentity。
  Thisdoctrinegivesashortcuttotheabolitionofmetaphysics。Theword’metaphysics,’saysTooke,7*isnonsense。Allmetaphysicalcontroversiesare’foundedonthegrossestignoranceofwordsandthenatureofspeech。’
  Thegreatestpartofhissecondvolumeisconcernedwithetymologiesintendedtoprovethatan’abstractidea’isamereword。Abstractwords,hesays,8*
  aregenerally’participleswithoutasubstantiveandthereforeinconstructionusedassubstantives。’Fromamisunderstandingofthishasarisen’metaphysicaljargon’and’falsemorality。’Inillustrationhegivesasingularlistofwords,including’fate,chance,heaven,hell,providence,prudence,innocence,substance,fiend,angel,apostle,spirit,true,false,desert,merit,faith,etc。,allofwhicharemereparticiplespoeticallyembodiedandsubstantiatedbythosewhousethem。’Acoupleofspecificapplications,oftenquotedbylaterwriters,willsufficientlyindicatehisdrift。
  Suchwords,heremarks,9*as’right’and’just’meansimplythatwhichisorderedorcommanded。Thechapterisheaded’rightsofman,’andTooke’sinterlocutornaturallyobservesthatthisisasingularresultforademocrat。
  Man,itwouldseem,hasnorightsexcepttherightscreatedbythelaw。Tookeadmitstheinferencetobecorrect,butrepliesthatthedemocratindisobeyinghumanlawmaybeobeyingthelawofGod,andisobeyingthelawofGodwhenheobeysthelawofnature。TheinterlocutordoesnotinquirewhatTookecouldmeanbythe’lawofnature。’WecanguesswhatTookewouldhavesaidtoPaineintheWimbledongarden。Infact,however,Tookeishere,aselsewhere,followingHobbes,though,itseems,unconsciously。Anotherfamousetymologyisthatof’truth’from’troweth。’10*Truthiswhateachmanthinks。Thereisnosuchthing,therefore,as’eternal,immutable,everlastingtruth,unlessmankind,suchastheyareatpresent,beeternal,immutable,everlasting。’
  Twopersonsmaycontradicteachotherandyeteachmaybespeakingwhatistrueforhim。Truthmaybeaviceaswellasavirtue;foronmanyoccasionsitiswrongtospeakthetruth。