第45章
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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。

  Moralityisfirstimpresseduponusbyauthority。Ourparentspraiseandblame,rewardandpunish,thusareformedassociationsofpraiseandblamewithcertainactions。Then,weformfurtherassociationswiththecausesofpraiseandblameandthusacquirethesentimentsof’praise-worthiness’

  and’blame-worthiness。’Thesensibilitytopraiseandblamegenerallyformsthe’popularsanction,’andthis,whenpraise-worthinessisconcerned,becomesthemoralsanction。146Hereweseethatmoralityisregardedassomehowtheproductofa’sanction’;thatis,oftheactionofpraiseandblamewiththeirusualconsequencesupontheindividual。

  Hissensibilitycauseshimthroughassociationtoacquirethehabitswhichgenerallybringpraiseandblame;andultimatelythesequalitiesbecomeattractivefortheirownsake。Thedifficultyistoseewherethelineiscrossedwhichdividestrulymoraloraltruisticconductfrommereprudence。

  Admittingthatassociationmayimpelustoconductwhichinvolvesself-sacrifice,wemaystillaskwhethersuchconductisreasonable。Associationproducesbeliefinerroraswellasintruth。IfIloveamanbecauseheisusefulandcontinuetolovehimwhenhecannolongerbeuseful,amInotmisguided?

  IfIweararaggedcoat,becauseitwasoncesmart,myconductiseasilyexplainedasaparticularkindoffolly。IfIamgoodtomyoldmotherwhenshecannolongernurseme,amInotguiltyofasimilarfolly?Inshort,amanwhoinferredfromMill’sprinciplesthathewouldneverdogoodwithoutbeingpaidforit,wouldbehardlyinconsistent。Yourassociations,Millwouldsay,areindissoluble。Hemightanswer,Iwilltry——itissurelynotsohardtodissolveatieofgratitude!Granting,inshort,thatMillgivesanaccountofsuchvirtueasmaybemadeofenlightenedself-interest,hedoesnotsucceedinmakingintelligibletheconductwhichalonedeservesthenameofvirtuous。Thetheoryalwayshaltsatthepointwheresomethingmoreisrequiredthananexternalsanction,andsupposesachangeofcharacteraswellasawidercalculationofpersonalinterest。

  Theimperfectionofthistheorymaybetakenforgranted。Ithasbeenexposedbyinnumerablecritics。

  Itismoreimportanttoobserveonecauseoftheimperfection。Mill’sargumentcontainsanelementofrealworth。Itmaybeheldtorepresentfairlythehistoricaldevelopmentofmorals。Thatmoralityisfirstconceivedasanexternallawderivingitssanctityfromauthority;thatitisdirectedagainstobviouslyhurtfulconduct;andthatitthusservesasaprotectionunderwhichthemoregenuinemoralsentimentscandevelopthemselves,I

  believetobeinfullaccordancewithsoundtheoriesofethics。ButMillwasthroughouthamperedbytheabsenceofanytheoryofevolution。Hehadtorepresentaseriesofchangesastakingplaceintheindividualwhichcanonlybeconceivedastheproductofalongandcomplexsocialchange。

  Heisforcedtorepresentthegrowthofmoralityasanaccretionofnew’ends’duetoassociation,notasanintrinsicdevelopmentofthecharacteritself。Hehastomakemoralityoutofatomicsensationsandideascollectedinclustersandtrainswithoutanydistinctreferencetotheorganicconstitutionoftheindividualorofsociety,andassomehoworotherdeduciblefromtheisolatedhumanbeing,whoremainsaconstant,thoughhecollectsintogroupsgovernedbyexternalsanctions。Heseesthatmoralityisformedsomehoworother,buthecannotshowthatitiseitherreasonableoranessentialfactofhumannature。Here,again,weshallseewhatproblemwassettohisson,Finally,ifMilldidnotexplainethicaltheorysatisfactorily,itmustbeaddedincommonjusticethathewashimselfanexcellentexampleofthequalitiesforwhichhetriedtoaccount。Alifeofdevotiontopublicobjectsandaconscientiousdischargeofprivatedutiesisjustthephenomenonforwhichaclusterof’ideas’and’associations’seemstobeaninadequateaccount。How,itmighthavebeenasked,doyouexplainJamesMill?Hismainpurpose,too,wastolaydownaruleofduty,almostmathematicallyascertainable,andnottobedisturbedbyanysentimentalism,mysticism,orrhetoricalfoppery。If,intheattempttofreehishearersfromsuchelements,herantheriskofreducingmoralitytoalowerlevelandmadeitappearasunamiableassoundmoralitycanappear,itmustbeadmittedthatinthisrespecttoohistheoriesreflectedhispersonalcharacter。

  Notes:

  1。Foranaccountofthesewritersandtheirrelationtothepre-revolutionaryschools,seeLesIdéologuesbyF。Picavet1891。

  2。MacveyNapier’sCorrespondence,p。424。

  3。CharlesFrançoisDominiquedeVillers1767-1815wasaFrenchofficer,whoemigratedin1792,andtookrefugeatLübeck。HebecameprofoundlyinterestedinGermanlifeandliterature,andendeavouredtointroduceaknowledgeofGermanspeculationtohiscountrymen。HischiefbookswerethisexpositionofKantandanessayupontheReformationofLuther1803,whichwentthroughseveraleditions,andwastranslatedbyJamesMillin1805。

  AninterestingaccountofVillersisintheBiographieUniverselle。

  4。SeeCockburn’sMemorialsforagoodnoticeofthis。

  5。Stewart’sWorks,iv,345。

  6。LadyHolland’sLifeofSmith,ii,388。

  7。InquiryintotheRelationsofCauseandEffectthirdedition,pp。178,180,andpartiv,sec。

  6。

  8。ExaminationofHamiltonfourthedition,p。379。

  9。CauseandEffect,pp。184-87。

  10。CauseandEffect,p。197。

  11。Ibid。,p。239seq。

  12。Ibid。,p。244。

  13。Ibid。,p。150。

  14。Ibid。,p。357。

  15。CauseandEffect,p。313。

  16。CauseandEffect,p。482。Brownthinksthatwecanlogicallydisprovetheexistenceofmotionbythehareandtortoiseargument,andshouldthereforedisregardlogic。

  17。Brown’sLecture,1851,p。167,Lect。xxvi。

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