James Mill

第45章

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第45章

James Mill Leslie Stephen

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James Mill
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  IfMill’sdoctrineleadstoanimpossiblestrictnessinonedirection,itleadstolessedifyingresultsinanother。Wehaveomitted’motive’andcometothecriticalquestion,How,afterall,isthemoralcodetobeenforced?Byoverlookingthisquestionanddeclaring’motive’tobeirrelevant,wegettheparadoxalreadyacceptedbyBentham。Hisdefinitionofvirtueisactionforthegoodofothersaswellasofourselves。Inwhatwayistheexistenceofsuchactiontobereconciledwiththisdoctrine?Whatarethemotiveswhichmakemencountthehappinessofotherstobeequallyvaluablewiththeirown?or,intheUtilitarianlanguage,Whatisthe’sanction’ofmorality?AfterallBentham’sinsistenceuponthe’self-preferenceprinciple’andMill’saccountofselfishnessinhispoliticaltheory,wearesuddenlytoldthatmoralitymeansaloftyandrigidcodeinwhichthehappinessofallistheoneend。HereagainMillisentangledbythecharacteristicdifficultyofhispsychology。Toanalyseistodivideobjectsintoseparateunits。Whenhehastodowithcomplexobjectsandrelationsapparentlyreciprocal,heisforcedtorepresentthembyasimplesequence。Thetwofactorsarenotmutuallydependentbutdistinctthingssomehowconnectedintime。Oneresultishisaccountof’ends’or’motives’thetwo,asheobserves,aresynonymous。142Theendissomethingtobegainedbytheact,the’association’ofwhichwiththeactconstitutesa’desire。’This,wehaveseen,alwaysreferstothefuture。143Inacting,then,Iamalwaysguidedbycalculationsoffuturepleasuresorpains。IbelievethistobeoneofthemostunfortunatebecauseoneofthemostplausibleofUtilitarianfallacies。Ifwearedeterminedbypainsandpleasures,itisinonesenseascontradictorytospeakofourbeingdeterminedbyfuturepainsandpleasuresastospeakofourbeingnourishedto-daybyto-morrow’sdinner。The’futurepleasure’doesnotexist;theanticipatedpleasureactsbymakingthepresentactionpleasant;

  andwethenmoveasitissaidalongthelineofleastresistance。Certainconductisintrinsicallypleasurableorpainful,andthefuturepleasureonlyactsthroughthepresentforetaste。When,however,weregardthepleasureasfutureandassomehowaseparablething,wecanonlyexpresstheseundeniablefactsbyacceptingapurelyegoisticconclusion。Weare,ofcourse,movedbyourownfeelings,aswebreathewithourownlungsanddigestwithourownstomachs。Butwhenweacceptthedoctrineof’ends’thisharmlessandself-evidenttruthispervertedintothestatementthatour’end’mustbeourownpleasure;thatwecannotbereallyordirectlyunselfish。Theanalysis,indeed,issodefectivethatitcanhardlybeappliedintelligibly。

  Humeobservesthatnomanwouldresthisfootindifferentlyuponastooloragoutytoe。Theactionitselfofgivingpainwouldbepainful,andcannotbeplausiblyresolvedintoananticipationofan’end。’This,again,isconspicuouslytrueofallthetrulysocialemotions。Notonlytheconscience,butthesenseofshameorhonour,orprideandvanityactpowerfullyandinstantaneouslyaspresentmotiveswithoutnecessaryreferencetoanyfutureresults。TheknowledgethatIamgivingpainorcausingfuturepainisintrinsicallyandimmediatelypainfultothenormalhumanbeing,andthesupposed’analysis’isthroughoutafiction。Mill,however,likeBentham,takesitforgranted,butperceivesmoreclearlythanBenthamthedifficultytowhichitleads。How,fromatheoryofpureselfishness,arewetogetamoralityofgeneralbenevolence?Theanswerisgivenbytheuniversal’association。’Wearegoverned,heholds,byourownemotions;ourendisourownpleasure,andwehavetoconsiderhowthisenddictatesadesireforgeneralhappiness。Heexpoundswithgreatvigourtheprocessbywhichtheloveoffriends,childrenandparentsandcountrymaybegraduallydevelopedthroughtheassociationofourpleasureswiththefellow-creatureswhocausedthem。J。S。Millregardshisexpositionas’almostperfect,’144andsaysthatitshowshowthe’acquiredsentiments’——themoralsentimentsandsoforth——maybegraduallydeveloped;maybecome’moreintenseandpowerfulthananyoftheelementsoutofwhichtheymayhavebeenformed,andmayalsointheirmaturitybeperfectlydisinterested。’JamesMilldeclaresthattheanalysisdoesnotaffecttherealityofthesentimentsanalysed。Gratituderemainsgratitude,andgenerositygenerosity,justasawhiterayremainswhiteafterNewtonhaddecomposeditintoraysofdifferentcolours。145Hereoncemorewehavethegreatprincipleofindissolubleassociationormentalchemistry。

  Grantingthattheemotionssogeneratedmaybereal,wemaystillaskwhethertheanalysisbesufficient。

  JamesMill’saccountofthewayinwhichtheyaregeneratedleavesadoubt。

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