首页 >出版文学> Jeremy Bentham>第39章

第39章

  andwhichwillgivetohissystemnotsuchunityasarisesfromthedevelopmentofanabstractlogicalprinciple,butsuchasisintroducedintothephysicalscienceswhenweareabletorangealltheindefinitelycomplexphenomenawhichariseundersomesimplelawofforce。IfBentham’saimcouldhavebeenachieved,’utility’wouldhavebeeninlegislativetheorieswhatgravitationisinastronomicaltheories。Allhumanconductbeingruledbypainandpleasure,wecouldcompareallmotivesandactions,andtraceouttheconsequencesofanygivenlaw。Ishallhavehereaftertoconsiderhowthisconceptionworkedindifferentmindsandwasappliedtodifferentproblems:whatwerethetenableresultstowhichitled,andwhatweretheerrorscausedbytheimpliedovernightofsomeessentialconsiderations。
  Certainweaknessesarealmosttooobvioustobespecified。Heclaimedtobeconstructingascience,comparabletothephysicalsciences。Theattemptwasobviouslychimericalifwearetotakeitseriously。Themakeshiftdoctrinewhichhesubstitutesforpsychologywouldbeasufficientproofoftheincapacityforhistask。HehadprobablynotreadsuchwritersasHartleyorCondillac,whomighthavesuggestedsomeostensiblysystematictheory。Ifhehadlittlepsychologyhehadnotevenaconceptionof’sociology。’The’felicificcalculus’
  isenoughtoshowtheinadequacyofhismethod。Thepurposeistoenableustocalculatetheeffectsofaproposedlaw。Youproposetosendrobberstothegallowsorthegaol。Youmust,saysBentham,reckonupalltheevilsprevented:thesufferingtotherobbed,andtothosewhoexpecttoberobbed,ontheonehand;and,ontheother,theevilscaused,thesufferingtotherobber,andtothetax-payerwhokeepstheconstable;thenstrikeyourbalanceandmakeyourlawiftheevilspreventedexceedtheevilscaused。Somesuchcalculationisdemandedbyplaincommonsense。Itpointstothelineofinquirydesirable。Butcanitbeadequate?Toestimatetheutilityofalawwemusttakeintoaccountallits’effects。’Whatarethe’effects’ofalawagainstrobbery?Theyareallthatisimpliedinthesecurityofproperty。TheycorrespondtothedifferencebetweenEnglandintheeighteenthcenturyandEnglandinthetimeofHengistandHorsa;betweenacountrywherethesupremacyoflawisestablished,andacountrystillundertheruleofthestronghand。Bentham’smethodmaybeapplicableatagivenmoment,whenthesocialstructureisalreadyconsolidatedanduniform。Itwouldrepresentthepracticalargumentsforestablishingthepolice-forcedemandedbyColquhoun,andshowthedisadvantagesoftheoldconstablesandwatchmen。Bentham,thatis,givesanadmirablemethodforsettlingdetailsofadministrativeandlegislativemachinery,anddealingwithparticularcaseswhenoncethemainprinciplesoflawandorderareestablished。Thoseprinciples,too,maydependupon’utility。’
  bututilitymustbetakeninawidersensewhenwehavetodealwiththefundamentalquestions。Wemustconsiderthe’utility’ofthewholeorganisation,notthefitnessofseparatedetails。Finally,ifBenthamisweakinpsychologyandinsociology,heisclearlynotsatisfactoryinethics。Moralityis,accordingtohim,onthesameplanewithlaw。Thedifferenceisnotinthespheretowhichtheyapply,orintheendtowhichtheyaredirected;butsolelyinthe’sanction。’Thelegislatorusesthreatsofphysicalsuffering;
  themoralistthreatsof’popular’disapproval。Either’sanction’maybemostapplicabletoagivencase;butthequestionismerelybetweendifferentmeanstothesameendundervaryingconditions。Thisimpliesthe’external’
  characterofBentham’smorality,andexplainshisinsistenceupontheneutralityofmotives。Hetakestheaveragemantobeacompoundofcertaininstincts,andmerelyseekstoregulatetheiractionbysupplying’artificialtutelarymotives。’The’man’isgiven;theplayofhisinstincts,separatelyneutral,makeshisconductmoreorlessfavourabletogeneralhappiness;andthemoralistandthelegislatorhavebothtocorrecthisdeviationsbysupplyingappropriate’sanctions。’Bentham,therefore,isinclinedtoignoretheintrinsiccharacterofmorality,orthedependenceofaman’smoralityupontheessentialstructureofhisnature。Hethinksofthesuperficialplayofforces,notoftheirintimateconstitution。Themanisnottobechangedineithercase;onlyhiscircumstances。SuchdefectsnodoubtdiminishthevalueofBentham’swork。Yet,afterall,inhisownspheretheyaretrifles。Hedidverywellwithoutphilosophy。Howeverimperfecthissystemmightbeconsideredasascienceoranultimateexplanationofsocietyandhumannature,itwasverymuchtothepointasanexpressionofdownrightcommon-sense。Dumont’seulogyseemstobefullydeserved,whenwecontrastBentham’stheoryofpunishmentwiththetheoriesiftheydeservethenameofcontemporarylegislators。
  Hismethodinvolvedathoroughgoingexaminationofthewholebodyoflaws,andaresolutiontoapplyasearchingtesttoeverylaw。Ifthattestwasnotsounequivocalorultimateashefancied,ityetimpliedtheconstantapplicationofsuchconsiderationsasmustalwayscarryweight,and,perhaps,bealwaysthedominantconsiderations,withtheactuallegislatororjurist。
  Whatistheuseofyou?isaquestionwhichmayfairlybeputtoeveryinstitutionandtoeverylaw;anditconcernslegislatorstofindsomeanswer,eventhoughthemeaningoftheword’use’isnotsoclearaswecouldwish。
  V。ENGLISHLAW
  ThepracticalvalueofBentham’smethodisperhapsbestillustratedbyhisRationaleofEvidence。ThecompositionofthepapersultimatelyputtogetherbyJ。S。MillhadoccupiedBenthamfrom1802to1812。Thechangedstyleissignificant。Nobodycouldwritemorepointedly,orwithhappierillustrations,thanBenthaminhisearlieryears。Heafterwardscametothinkthatadidactictreatiseshouldsacrificeeveryothervirtuetofulnessandprecision。Tomakeasentenceprecise,everyqualifyingclausemustbesomehowforcedintotheoriginalformula。Stillmorecharacteristicishisapplicationofwhathecallsthe’substantive-preferringprinciple。’61*Hewouldrathersay,’Igiveextensiontoanobject,’than’Iextendanobject。’Whereasubstantiveisemployed,theideais’stationeduponarock’;ifonlyaverb,theideais’likealeaffloatingonastream。’Averb,hesaid,62*’slipsthroughyourfingerslikeaneel。’Theprinciplecorrespondstohis’metaphysics。’
  Theuniverseofthoughtismadeupofanumberofseparate’entities’correspondingtonouns-substantive,andwhenthesebundlesaredistinctlyisolatedbyappropriatenouns,theprocessofarrangingandcodifyingaccordingtothesimplerelationsindicatedbythecopulaisgreatlyfacilitated。Theideallanguagewouldresemblealgebra,inwhichsymbols,eachrepresentingagivennumericalvalue,areconnectedbythesmallestpossiblenumberofsymbolsofoperation,,-,=,andsoforth。Tosettwosuchstatementssidebyside,ortomodifythembyinsertingdifferentconstants,isthenacomparativelyeasyprocess,capableofbeingregulatedbysimplegeneralrules。Bentham’sstylebecomestiresome,andwasoftenimproperlycalledobscure。Itrequiresattention,butthemeaningisneverdoubtful——andtotheendwehavefrequentflashesoftheoldvivacity。
  TheRationaleofEvidence,asMillremarks,63*is’oneoftherichestinmatterofallBentham’sproductions。’Itcontains,too,manypassagesinBentham’searlierstyle,judiciouslypreservedbyhisyoungeditor;indeed,somanythatIamtemptedeventocallthebookamusing。Inspiteofthewearisomeefforttosayeverything,andtoforcelanguageintothemouldpresentedbyhistheory,Benthamattractsusbyhisobvioussincerity。Theargumentsmaybeunsatisfactory,buttheyaregenuinearguments。TheyrepresentcOnviction;theyaregivenbecausetheyhaveconvinced;andnoreadercandenythattheyreallytendtoconvince。Wemaycomplainthattherearetoomanywords,andthatthesentencesarecumbrous;butthesubstanceisalwaystothepoint。Themainpurposemaybeverybrieflyindicated。Benthambeginsbygeneralconsiderationsuponevidence,inwhichheandhisyouthfuleditorindicatetheirgeneraladherencetothedoctrinesofHume。64*Thisleadstoanapplicationofthemethodsexpoundedinthe’Introduction,’inordertoshowhowthevariousmotivesor’springsofaction’andthe’sanctions’
  baseduponthemmayaffectthetrustworthinessofevidence。Anymotivewhatevermayincidentallycause’mendacity。’Thesecondbook,therefore,considerswhatsecuritiesmaybetakenfor’securingtrustworthiness。’Wehave,forexample,adiscussionofthevalueofoathshethinksthemvalueless,oftheadvantagesanddisadvantagesofreducingevidencetowriting,ofinterrogatingwitnesses,andofthepublicityorprivacyofevidence。BookIIIdealswiththe’extractionofevidence。’Wehavetocomparetherelativeadvantagesoforalandwrittenevidence,therulesforcross-examiningwitnessesandfortakingevidenceastotheircharacter。BookIVdealswith’pre-appointedevidence,’thecases,thatis,inwhicheventsarerecordedatthetimeofoccurrenCewithaviewtotheirsubsequentuseasevidence。Wehaveunderthisheadtoconsidertheformalitieswhichshouldberequiredinregardtocontractsandwills;andthemodeofrecordingjudicialandotherofficialdecisionsandregisteringbirths,deaths,andmarriages。InBooksVandVI
  weconsidertwokindsofevidencewhichisinonewayorotherofinferiorcogency,namely,’circumstantialevidence,’inwhichtheevidenceifacceptedstillleavesroomforaprocessofmoreorlessdoubtfulinference;and’makeshiftevidence,’suchevidenceasmustsometimesbeacceptedforwantofthebest,ofwhichthemostconspicuousinstanceis’hearsayevidence。’BookVIIdealswiththe’authentication’ofevidence。Bookviiiisaconsiderationofthe’technical’system,thatnamelywhichwasacceptedbyEnglishlawyers;andfinallyBookIXdealswithaspecialpoint,namely,theexclusionofevidence。
  Benthamannouncesatstarting65*thatheshallestablish’onetheorem’
  andconsidertwoproblems。Theproblemsare:’whatsecuritiescanbetakenforthetruthofevidence?’and’whatrulescanbegivenforestimatingthevalueofevidence?’The’theorem’isthatnoevidenceshouldbeexcludedwiththeprofessedintentionofobtainingarightdecision;thoughsomemustbeexcludedtoavoidexpense,vexation,anddelay。This,therefore,ashismostdistinctmoral,isfullytreatedinthelastbook。
  HadBenthamconfinedhimselftoapithystatementofhisleadingdoctrines,andconfirmedthembyafewtypicalcases,hewouldhavebeenmoreeffectiveinaliterarysense。Hispassionfor’codification,’fortabulatingandarrangingfactsinalltheircomplexity,andforapplyinghisdoctrineatfulllengthtoeverycasethathecanimagine,makeshimterriblyprolix。Ontheotherhand,thisprocessnodoubtstrengthenedhisownconvictionandtheconvictionofhisdisciplesastothevalueofhisprocess。Followthisclueofutilitythroughoutthewholelabyrinth,seewhataclearansweritoffersateverypoint,andyoucannotdoubtthatyouareinpossessionofthetruecompassforsuchanavigation。Indeed,itseemstobeindisputablethatBentham’sargumentsarethereallyrelevantandimportantarguments。Howcanwedecideanyofthepointswhichcomeupfordiscussion?Shouldawitnessbecrossexamined?Shouldhisevidenceberecorded?Shouldawifebeallowedtogiveevidenceagainstherhusband?orthedefendanttogiveevidenceabouthisowncase?TheseandinnumerableotherpointscanonlybedecidedbyreferencetowhatBenthamunderstoodby’utility。’Thisorthatarrangementis’useful’
  becauseitenablesustogetquicklyandeasilyattheevidence,totakeeffectivesecuritiesforitstruthfulness,toestimateitsrelevanceandimportance,toleavethedecisiontothemostqualifiedpersons,andsoforth。
  Thesepoints,again,canonlybedecidedbyacarefulappealtoexperience,andbyendeavouringtounderstandtheordinaryplayof’motives’and’sanctions。’