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第104章 BENTHAM'S DOCTRINE(26)

Briefly,I should say,that there is hardy an argument in Bentham's voluminous writings which is not to the purpose so far as it goes.Given his point of view,he is invariably cogent and relevant.And,moreover,that is a point of view which has to be taken.No ethical or political doctrine can,as I hold,be satisfactory which does not find a place for Bentham,though he was far,indeed,from giving a complete theory of his subject.And the main reason of this is that which I have already indicated.Bentham's whole life was spent in the attempt to create a science of legislation.Even where he is most tiresome,there is a certain interest in his unflagging working out of every argument,and its application to all conceivable cases.It is all genuine reasoning;and throughout it is dominated by a respect for good solid facts.His hatred of 'vague generalities'(124)means that he will be content with no formula which cannot be interpreted in terms of definite facts.The resolution to insist upon this should really be characteristic of every writer upon similar subjects,and no one ever surpassed Bentham in attention to it.Classify and reclassify,to make sure that at every point your classes correspond to realities.In the effort to carry out these principles,Bentham at least brought innumerable questions to a sound test,and exploded many pestilent fallacies.If he did not succeed further,if whole spheres of thought remained outside of his vision,it was because in his day there was not only no science of 'sociology'or psychology --there are no such sciences now --but no adequate perception of the vast variety of investigation which would be necessary to lay a basis for them.But the effort to frame a science is itself valuable,indeed of surpassing value,so far as it is combined with a genuine respect for facts.It is common enough to attempt to create a science by inventing technical terminology.Bentham tried the far wider and far more fruitful method of a minute investigation of particular facts.

His work,therefore,will stand,however different some of the results may appear when fitted into a different framework.And,therefore,however crudely and imperfectly,Bentham did,as I believe,help to turn speculation into a true and profitable channel.Of that,more will appear hereafter;but,if any one doubts Bentham's services,I will only suggest to him to compare Bentham with any of his British contemporaries,and to ask where he can find anything at all comparable to his resolute attempt to bring light and order into a chaotic infusion of compromise and prejudice.

NOTES:

1.See note under Bentham's Life,(note 20,previous chapter).

2.Preface to Morals and Legislation.

3.Works,i,('Morals and Legislation'),ii,n.

4.Essay,bk,ii,ch.xxi,section 39-section 44.The will,says Locke,is determined by the 'uneasiness of desire'.What moves desire?Happiness,and that alone.Happiness is pleasure,and misery pain.What produces pleasure we call good;and what produces paine we call evil.Locke,however,was not a consistent Utiliarian.

5.Epistle,iv,opening lines.

6.Works,viii,82.

7.Works ('Constitutional Code'),ix,123.

8.Works,('Fragment'),i,287.

9.Works,('Morals and Legislation'),i,6-10.Mill quotes this passage in his essay on Bentham in the first volume of his Dissertations.This essay,excellent in itself,must be specially noticed as an exposition by an authoritarian disciple.

10.Works ('Morals and Legislation'),i,13.

11.Works ('Morals and Legislation')i,v.

12.Works ('Evidence'),vi,261.

13.Works ('Evidence'),vii.116.

14.Ibid.('Morals and Legislation')i,14,etc;Ibid.vi,260.In Ibid.

('Evidence')vii,116'humanity,and in 'Logical Arrangement',Ibid.ii,290,'sympathy'appears as a fifth sanction.Another modification is suggested in Ibid.i,14n.

15.Ibid.('Morals and Legislation')i,67.

16.Works ('Morals and Legislation')i,96n.

17.See especially Ibid.viii,104,etc.253,etc.289,etc.

18.Ibid,viii,106.

19.'Codify'was one of Betham's successful neologisms.

20.Works ('Logic'),viii,220.

21.Here Bentham coincides with Horne Tooke,to whose 'discoveries'he refers in the Chrestomathia (Works,viii,120,185,188).

22.Works,iii,286,viii,119.

23.Ibid.('Ontology')viii,196n.

24.Ibid.viii,197n.

25.Ibid.viii,263.

26.Works ('Ontology'),viii,119.

27.Ibid.viii,198.

28.Ibid.viii,199.

29.Ibid.viii,206,247.

30.Helvétius adds to this that the only real pains and pleasures are the physical,but Bentham does not follow him here.See Helvétius OEuvres (1781),ii,121,etc.

31.Works,i,211('Springs of Action').

32.Ibid.i 206.

33.Works,i,205;and Dumont's Traités (1820),i,xxv,xxvi.The word 'springs of action'perhaps come from the marginal note to the above-mentioned passage of Locke (bk.ii,chap.xxvi,section 41,42).

34.Morals and Legislation,chaps.iv,v,vi.

35.See 'Codification Proposal'(Works,iv,540),where Bentham takes money as representing pleasure,and shows how the present value may be calculated like that of a sum put out to interest.The same assumption is often made by Political Economists in regard to 'utilities'.

36.Works ('Morals and Legislation'),i,17n.

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