首页 >出版文学> Jeremy Bentham>第38章

第38章

  The’disposition’includessensibilitytowhathecalls’tutelarymotives’
  motives,thatis,whichdeteramanfromsuchconductasgenerallyproducesmischievousconsequences。Nomotivecanbeinvariably,thoughsome,especiallythemotiveofgoodwill,andinaminordegreethoseof’amity’anda’loveofreputation,’aregenerally,ontherightside。Thelegislatorhastoreinforcethese’tutelarymotives’by’artificialtutelarymotives,’andmainlybyappealingtothe’loveofease,’thatis,bymakingmischievousconductmoredifficult,andto’self-preservation,’thatis,bymakingitmoredangerous。49*
  Hehasthereforetomeasuretheforcebywhichthesemotiveswillbeopposed;
  or,inotherwords,the’strengthofthetemptation。’Nowthemoredepravedaman’sdisposition,theweakerthetemptationwhichwillseducehimtocrime。
  Consequentlyifanactshowsdepravity,itwillrequireastrongercounter-motiveoramoreseverepunishment,asthedispositionindicatedismoremischievous。
  Anact,forexample,whichimpliesdeliberationprovesagreaterinsensibilitytothesesocialmotiveswhich,asBenthamremarks,50*determinethe’generaltenorofaman’slife,’howeverdepravedhemaybe。Thelegislatorisguidedsolelyby’utility,’oraimsatmaximisinghappinesswithoutreferencetoitsquality。Still,sofarasactionimpliesdisposition,hehastocOnsiderthedepravityasasourceofmischief。Thelegislatorwholookssolelyatthemoralqualityimpliediswrong;and,ifguidedsolelybyhissympathies,hasnomeasurefortheamountofpunishmenttobeinflicted。Theseconsiderationswillenableustoseewhatisthepropermeasureofresentment。51*
  Thedoctrineoftheneutralityor’unmorality’ofmotiveisthussufficientlyclear。Bentham’swholeaimistourgethatthecriterionofmoralityisgivenbytheconsequencesofactions。Tosaytheconductisgoodorbadistosayinotherwordsthatitproducesabalanceofpleasureorpain。Tomakethecriterionindependent,orescapetheviciouscircle,wemustadmitthepleasuresandpainstobeinthemselvesneutral;tohave,thatis,thesamevalue,ifequallystrong,whatevertheirsource。Inourfinalbalance-sheetwemustsetdownpainsofillwillandofgoodwill,ofsenseandofintellectwithabsoluteimpartiality,andcomparethemsimplyinrespectofintensity。Wemustnotadmita’conscience’or’moralsense’whichwouldbeautocratic;
  nor,indeed,allowmoraltohaveanymeaningasappliedtotheseparatepassions。
  Butitisquiteconsistentwiththistoadmitthatsomemotives,goodwillinparticular,generallytendtobringoutthedesirableresult,thatis,abalanceofpleasureforthegreatestnumber。Thepainsandpleasuresaretheultimatefacts,andthe’disposition’isa’fictitiousentity’oranameforthesumofsensibilities。Itrepresentsthefactthatsomemenaremoreinclinedthanotherstoincreasethetotalofgoodorbad。
  IV。CRIMINALLAW
  Wehavenow,afteralonganalysis,reachedthepointatwhichtheprinciplescanbeappliedtopenallaw。Thelegislatorhastodiscouragecertainclassesofconductbyannexing’tutelarymotives。’Theclassestobesuppressedareofcoursethosewhichdiminishhappiness。Pursuingthesamemethod,andapplyingresultsalreadyreached,wemustinthefirstplaceconsiderhowthe’mischiefofanact’istobemeasured。52*Actsaremischievousastheir’consequences’
  aremischievous;andtheconsequencesmaybe’primary’or’secondary。’Robberycausespaintotheloserofthemoney。Thatisaprimaryevil。Italarmstheholdersofmoney;itsuggeststhefacilityofrobberytoothers;anditweakensthe’tutelarymotive’ofrespectforproperty。Thesearesecondaryevils。The’secondary’evilmaybeattimesthemostimportant。Thenon-paymentofataxmaydonoappreciableharminaparticularcase。Butitssecondaryeffectsininjuringthewholepoliticalfabricmaybedisastrousandfruitfulbeyondcalculation。Benthamproceedstoshowcarefullyhowthe’intentions’
  and’motives’oftheevil-doerareofthegreatestimportance,especiallyindeterminingthesesecondaryconsequences,andmustthereforebetakenintoaccountbythelegislator。Ahomicidemaycausethesameprimaryevil,whetheraccidentalormalignant;butaccidentalhomicidemaycausenoalarm,whereastheintentionalandmalignanthomicidemaycauseanyquantityofalarmandshocktothegeneralsenseofsecurity。Inthisway,therefore,thelegislatorhasagainindirectlytotakeintoaccountthemoralqualitywhichisitselfdependentuponutility。
  Imust,however,passlightlyoveraveryclearandinterestingdiscussiontoreachafurtherpointofprimaryimportancetotheUtilitariantheory,astothedistinctionbetweenthemoralandlegalspheres。53*Benthamhasnow’madeananalysisofevil。’Hehas,thatis,classifiedthemischiefsproducedbyconduct,measuredsimplybytheireffectuponpleasuresorpains,independentlyofanyconsiderationastovirtueandvice。Thenextproblemis:whatconductshouldbecriminal?——asubjectwhichisvirtuallydiscussedintwochaptersxvandxix’oncasesunmeetforpunishment’andon’thelimitsbetweenPrivateEthicsandtheactoflegislation。’Wemust,ofcourse,followtheonecluetothelabyrinth。Wemustcountallthe’lots’ofpainandpleasureindifferently。Itisclear,ontheonehand,thatthepainssufferedbycriminalsarefarlessthanthepainswhichwouldbesufferedwerenosuchsanctionsapplied。Ontheotherhand,allpunishmentisanevil,becausepunishmentmeanspain,anditisthereforeonlytobeinflictedwhenitexcludesgreaterpain。Itmust,therefore,notbeinflictedwhenitis’groundless,’’inefficacious,’’unprofitable,’or’needless。’’Needless’
  includesallthecasesinwhichtheendmaybeattained’aseffectuallyatacheaperrate。’54*Thisappliestoall’disseminationofperniciousprinciples’;
  forinthiscasereasonandnotforceistheappropriateremedy。Theswordinflictsmorepain,andislessefficientthanthepen。Theargumentraisesthewiderquestion,Whatarethetruelimitsoflegislativeinterference?
  Bentham,inhislastchapter,endeavourstoanswerthisproblem。’Privateethics,’hesays,and’legislation’aimatthesameend,namely,happiness,andthe’actswithwhichtheyareconversantareingreatmeasurethesame。’
  Why,then,shouldtheyhavedifferentspheres?Simplybecausetheacts’arenotperfectlyandthroughoutthesame。’55*How,then,arewetodrawtheline?Byfollowingtheinvariableclueof’utility。’Wesimplyhavetoapplyananalysistodeterminethecasesinwhichpunishmentdoesmoreharmthangood。Heinsistsespeciallyuponthecasesinwhichpunishmentis’unprofitable’;
  uponsuchoffencesasdrunkennessandsexualimmorality,wherethelawcouldonlybeenforcedbyamischievousorimpossiblesystemofminutesupervision,andsuchoffencesasingratitudeorrudeness,wherethedefinitionissovaguethatthejudgecouldnotsafelybeentrustedwiththepowertopunish。’56*
  Heendeavourstogivearathermoreprecisedistinctionbysub-dividing’ethicsingeneral’intothreeclasses。Dutymaybetooneself,thatis’prudence’;
  ortoone’sneighbournegatively,thatis’probity’;ortoone’sneighbourpositively,thatis’benevolence。’57*Dutiesofthefirstclassmustbeleftchieflytotheindividual,becauseheisthebestjudgeofhisowninterest。
  Dutiesofthethirdclassagainaregenerallytoovaguetobeenforcedbythelegislator,thoughamanoughtperhapstobepunishedforfailingtohelpaswellasforactuallyinjuring。Theseconddepartmentofethics,thatof’probity,’isthemainfieldforlegislativeactivity。58*Asageneralprinciple,’privateethics’teachamanhowtopursuehisownhappiness,andtheartoflegislationhowtopursuethegreatesthappinessofthecommunity。
  Itmustbenoticed,forthepointisoneofimportance,thatBentham’spurelyempiricalmethoddrawsnodefiniteline。Itimpliesthatnodefinitelinecanbedrawn。Itdoesnotsuggestthatanykindofconductwhateverisoutsidetheproperprovinceoflegislatorexceptinsofarasthelegislativemachinerymayhappentobeinadequateorinappropriate。
  Ouranalysishasnowbeencarriedsofarthatwecanproceedtoconsidertheprinciplesbywhichweshouldbeguidedinpunishing。Whatarethedesirablepropertiesofa’lotofpunishment’?Thisoccupiestwointerestingchapters。
  Chapterxvi,’ontheproportionbetweenpunishmentsandoffences,’givestwelverules。Thepunishment,heurges,mustoutweightheprofitoftheoffence;
  itmustbesuchastomakeamanpreferalessoffencetoagreater-simpletheft,forexample,toviolentro-KanbaAPp点com-bbery;itmustbesuchthatthepunishmentmustbeadaptabletothevaryingsensibilityoftheoffender;itmustbegreaterin’value’asitfallsshortofcertainty;and,whentheoffenceindicatesahabit,itmustoutweighnotonlytheprofitoftheparticularoffence,butoftheundetectedoffences。InchapterxviiBenthamconsidersthepropertieswhichfitapunishmenttofulfiltheseconditions。Elevenpropertiesaregiven。Thepunishmentmustbe1’variable,’thatis,capableofadjustmenttoparticularcases;and2equable,orinflictingequalpainbyequalsentences。Thusthe’proportion’betweenpunishmentandcrimesofagivenclasscanbesecured。Inorderthatthepunishmentsofdifferentclassesofcrimemaybeproportional,thepunishmentsshould3becommensurable。
  Tomakepunishmentsefficacioustheyshouldbe4’characteristical’orimpressivetotheimagination;andthattheymaynotbeexcessivetheyshouldbe5exemplaryorlikelytoimpressothers,and6frugal。Tosecureminorendstheyshouldbe7reformatory;8disabling,i。e。fromfutureoffences;
  and9compensatorytothesufferer。Finally,toavoidcollateraldisadvantagestheyshouldbe10popular,and11remittable。Atwelfthproperty,simplicity,wasaddedinDumont’sredaction。DumontcallsattentionheretothevalueofBentham’smethod。59*MontesquieuandBeccariahadspokeningeneraltermsofthedesirablequalitiesofpunishment。Theyhadspokenof’proportionality,’
  forexample,butwithoutthatpreciseordefinitemeaningwhichappearsinBentham’sCalculus。Infact,Bentham’sstatement,comparedtothevaguerutterancesofhispredecessors,butstillmorewhencomparedtothehaphazardbrutalitiesandinconsistenciesofEnglishcriminallaw,givesthebestimpressionofthevalueofhismethod。
  Bentham’snextstepisanelaborateclassificationofoffences,workedoutbyafurtherapplicationofhisbifurcatorymethod。60*Thiswouldformthegroundworkoftheprojectedcode。Icannot,however,speakofthisclassification,orofmanyinterestingremarkscontainedinthePrinciplesofPenalLaw,wheresomefurtherdetailsareconsidered。AnanalysisscarcelydoesjusticetoBentham,forithastoomithisillustrationsandhisflashesofrealvivacity。Themeredrylogicalframeworkisnotappetising。IhavegonesofarinordertoillustratethecharacteristicofBentham’steaching。Itwasnotthebareappealtoutility,buttheattempttofollowtheclueofutilitysystematicallyandunflinchinglyintoeverypartofthesubject。Thisonedoctrinegivesthetouchstonebywhicheveryproposedmeasureistobetested;