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第34章

  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。SeeBlaguiè;re’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*BenthamhadlearnedmuchfromHelvé;tiustheFrenchfreethinker,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’