登陆注册
5589700000095

第95章 BENTHAM'S DOCTRINE(17)

Thus,both Bentham and the reformers generally started --not from abstract principles,but from the assault upon particular abuses.This is the characteristic of the whole English movement,and gives the meaning of their claim to be 'practical.'The Utilitarians were the reformers on the old lines;and their philosophy meant simply a desire to systematise the ordinary common-sense arguments.The philosophy congenial to this vein is the philosophy which appeals to experience.Locke had exploded 'innate ideas.'They denounced 'intuitions,'or beliefs which might override experience as 'innate ideas'in a new dress;and the attempt to carry out this view systematically became the distinctive mark of the whole school.Bentham accepted,though he did little to elaborate,this doctrine.That task remained for his disciples.

But the tendency is shown by his view of a rival version of Radicalism.

Bentham,as we have seen,regarded the American Declaration of independence as so much 'jargon.'He was entirely opposed to the theory of the 'rights of man,'and therefore to the 'ideas of 1789.'From that theory the revolutionary party professed to deduce their demands for universal suffrage,the levelling of all privileges,and the absolute supremacy of the people.Yet Bentham,repudiating the premises,came to accept the conclusion.His Constitutional Code scarcely differs from the ideal of the Jacobins',except in pushing the logic further.The machinery by which he proposed to secure that the so-called rulers should become really the servants of the people was more thoroughgoing and minutely worked out than that of any democratic constitution that has ever been adopted.How was it that two antagonist theories led to identical results;and that the 'rights of man,'absurd in philosophy,represented the ideal state of things in practice?

The general answer may be that political theories are not really based upon philosophy.The actual method is to take your politics for granted on the one side and your philosophy for granted on the other,and then to prove their necessary connection.But it is,at any rate,important to see what was the nature of the philosophical assumptions implicitly taken for granted by Bentham.

The 'rights of man'doctrine confounds a primary logical can on with a statement of fact.Every political theory must be based upon facts as well as upon logic.Any reasonable theory about politics must no doubt give a reason for inequality and a reason,too,for equality.The maxim that all men were,or ought to be,'equal'asserts correctly that there must not be arbitrary differences.Every inequality should have its justification in a reasonable system.But when this undeniable logical canon is taken to prove that men actually are equal,there is an obvious begging of the question.

In point of fact,the theorists immediately proceeded to disfranchise half the race on account of sex,and a third of the remainder on account of infancy.

They could only amend the argument by saying that all men were equal in so far as they possessed certain attributes.But those attributes could only be determined by experience,or,as Bentham would have put it,by an appeal to 'utility.'It is illogical,said the anti-slavery advocate,to treat men differently On account of the colour of their skins.No doubt it is illogical if,in fact,the difference of colour does not imply a difference of the powers which fit a man for the enjoyment of certain rights.We may at least grant that the burden of proof should be upon those who would disfranchise all red-haired men.But this is because experience shows that the difference of colour does not mark a relevant difference.We cannot say,a priori,whether the difference between a negro and a white man may not be so great as to imply incapacity for enjoyment of equal rights.The black skin might --for anything a mere logician can say --indicate the mind of a chimpanzee.The case against slavery does not rest on the bare fact that negroes and whites both belong to the class 'man,'but on the fact that the negro has powers and sensibilities which fit him to hold property,to form marriages,to learn his letters,and so forth.But that fact is undeniably to be proved,not from the bare logic,but from observation of the particular case.

Bentham saw with perfect clearness that sound political theory requires a basis of solid fact.The main purpose of his whole system was to carry out that doctrine thoroughly.His view is given vigorously in the 'Anarchical Fallacies'--a minute examination of the French Declaration of Rights in 1791.His argument is of merciless length,and occasionally so minute as to sound like quibbling.The pith,however,is clear enough.'All men are born and remain free and equal in respect of rights'are the first words of the Declaration.Nobody is 'born free,'retorts Bentham.Everybody is born,and long remains,a helpless child.All men born free!Absurd and miserable nonsense!Why,you are complaining in the same breath that nearly everybody is a slave.(97)To meet this objection,the words might be amended by substituting 'ought to be'for 'is.'This,however,on Bentham's showing,at once introduces the conception of utility,and therefore leads to empirical considerations.

The proposition,when laid down as a logical necessity,claims to be absolute.

同类推荐
  • 诸师真诰

    诸师真诰

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 四部律并论要用抄

    四部律并论要用抄

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 佛说呵雕阿那鋡经

    佛说呵雕阿那鋡经

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 一字轮王佛顶要略念诵法

    一字轮王佛顶要略念诵法

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 庐陵官下记

    庐陵官下记

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
热门推荐
  • 生活中的行为心理学

    生活中的行为心理学

    《生活中的行为心理学》以大家常见的行为动作为例,用心理学的知识和思维模式解读各种情境下行为的心理含义,让你通过行为掌握对方的心理。
  • 宠溺娇妻:爱你没商量

    宠溺娇妻:爱你没商量

    他们姓宋,她也姓宋,但他们是天之骄子,她只不过是厨娘的女儿。儿时的他们是她的兄长、弟弟,玩伴,大家在一起无忧无虑。可长大只在一夜之间,突然身份的横沟就摆在了她的面前。伤痕累累的她为了不继续受伤害,小心翼翼地想跟他们划清界限,但是他们却屡屡突破她的防线,想要把她带到他们的世界。她到底该不该再迈出那一步,又到底该牵起三双手里的哪一双?
  • 计划实施中

    计划实施中

    扑街小作家每天仰望着网文大神,而网文大神正计划着把小扑街拐回家
  • 易图通变

    易图通变

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 图解拉伸保健操

    图解拉伸保健操

    本书针对现代人的生活习惯、常见身体问题,并结合实际教学经验,介绍了全身各部位拉伸方法,释放身体能量,起到减压、舒缓的作用。同时详述了常见病的对症拉伸法,达到防病保健、祛病养生的目的,使拉伸更实用、更有效。另外,根据生活实际需要,特别设计了随时随地可进行的3分钟拉伸操,科学、全面、周到,力求让读者时时刻刻享受到拉伸带来的活力和乐趣。随书附赠精美演示光盘,实景演示动作,方便读者精准把握动作要点、轻松学习。
  • 农家女成长记

    农家女成长记

    贫穷的农家女孩初中毕业后就背起家庭的重负,前往深圳特区寻求改变人生的际遇。从此,凭借自己的聪明才干、吃苦耐劳,开启了绚丽多姿的人生之路。
  • 爱你那么多,含恨不如意

    爱你那么多,含恨不如意

    三年前,她被心爱的男人亲手送进监狱三年后,她眼睁睁的看着自己的儿子依偎在别的女人怀中她以为还有路可以回头直到他亲手扼杀掉她腹中孩子那一刻,她才明白,原来这一切不过是她的一厢情愿……
  • 重生之豪门大少奶

    重生之豪门大少奶

    重生一世,面对早已知晓的未来,她决定改变命运,将过去的遗憾统统补偿给自己。却偏偏有人一次又一次的踩在她头上,如此,就别怪她下手太狠!【一路虐渣,一路辉煌!】【纯属娱乐】“老爸,你当年是怎么把老妈弄到手的?”“挨打。”小包子眨了眨眼。次日,某女看着头青脸肿的儿子心痛不已。“报告老妈!儿子今天挨打了五回,帮你找到五个儿媳妇了!”小包子举手行礼,咧嘴一笑,连大门牙都被打掉了。不远处,男人拿着报纸的手抖了抖。…
  • 君宠

    君宠

    {四海阁}爱是天时地利的迷信。[重要公告:光棍节之后很快恢复更新,新文君怜也重新发文,希望你们还在……]【这是一段倾城之恋。】大婚当日,夫君病重,竟要她与小叔子拜堂;她冷笑倩然:原来她的爷不只是痴儿,还是病鬼!拒不下轿,她只为等来他的笑颜;“娘子,你明知……”,她是知道,可那又如何,她嫁的那个人仅仅是你。********一朝风云,离奇大火,对她而言,人间只是修罗场;她成了京都最受瞩目的寡妇,青梅竹马,大将军王,媚颜杀手,提亲的门槛踏破,她却安静的沉默;直到,银面的的男子,肩披月色而来,她轻咛:“爷,是你吗?”********她是宁家最卑微的庶女,却拥有着惊世的经商鬼才,她曾经是京都最大的笑料,也曾凭借着寡妇的身份,得隆圣宠,一朝她权倾朝野,一朝被贬入冷宫,她是赫连王朝一品皇贵妃,宁悠。【你若喜欢,我便拱手山河,讨你欢。】
  • 农女奋起记

    农女奋起记

    前世的南风被一碗红花药夺走性命,重生后的南风决心远离渣男怨妇,过上幸福生活。转身才发现前世错过那个人一直在背后看着自己。