105。Thecaseofthe’Kingv。Cobbett’,1804,whichledtotheproceedingsagainstMrJusticeJohnsonin1805——Cobbett’sStateTrials,xxix。
106。Works,x,448-49。
107。Ibid。,x,458。
108。Works,x,471,570。
109。Ibid。,x,471。
110。Ibid。,x,461。
111。Ibid。,x,471。
112。Ibid。,x,490。
113。PrintedinWorks,x,495-97。
114。Ibid。,x,570
115。Ibid。,x,476。
116。Works,x,485。
117。Bain’sJamesMill,156。ChurchofEnglandismandNotPaulbutJesuswerealsowrittenatFordAbbey。
118。Works,x,433,448。
119。Ibid。,x,457-58,Bain’sJamesMill,79。
120。Works,553-54,565。
121。Ibid。,xi,53。
122。SeeMemoirsofJ。Q。Adams1874,iii,511,520,532,535-39,540,544,560,562-63;andBentham’slettertoAdamsinWorks,x,554。
123。Works,xi,23。
124。Ibid。,xi,40。
125。SeecorrespondenceuponhiscodificationplansinRussia,AmericaandGenevainWorks,iv,451-594。
126。Borrow’sBibleinSpain,ch。xxx。
127。Works,viii,555-600。
128。Ibid。,x,534。SeeBlaguiè;re’senthusiasticlettertoBentham——Works,x,475。
129。See,however,Bentham’sreferencetothisstory——Works,xi,66。
130。Works,x,539。
131。Ibid。,x,522。
132。Works,x,516。
133。Ibid。,x,591。
134。AletterfromMillintheUniversityCollegeMSS。describesamisunderstandingaboutborrowedbooks,afertile,buthardlyadequatecauseofquarrel。
135。Bowring’sreligiousprinciplespreventedhimfromadmittingsomeofBentham’sworkstothecollectiveedition。
136。Works,x,471-72。
137。Ibid。,x,576。
138。Ibid。,x,588。
139。Works,xi,37。PaperspreservedatUniversityCollegeshowthatduringPeel’slawreformsatthistimeBenthamfrequentlycommunicatedwithhim。
140。Ibid。,xi,50。
141。Ibid。,v,549。
142。Ibid。,v,609。
143。Works,x,594。
144。Ibid。,xi,26。
145。Ibid。,xi,13,28。
146。Works,x,468。
147。Ibid。,x,551。
148。Ibid。,xi,75。
149。Ibid。,xi,35。
150。Mill’sDissertations,i,354and392n。
151。Works,x,442。
152。Works,x,467;xi,79。
153。Ibid。,xi,23-24。
154。Ibid。,x,450。
CHAPTERVI
BENTHAM’SDOCTRINE
I。FIRSTPRINCIPLES
Bentham’spositionisinonerespectunique。Therehavebeenmanygreaterthinkers;buttherehasbeenhardlyanyonewhoseabstracttheoryhasbecomeinthesamedegreetheplatformofanactivepoliticalparty。ToacceptthephilosophywastobealsopledgedtopracticalapplicationsofUtilitarianism。
What,then,wastherevelationmadetotheBenthamites,andtowhatdiditoweitsinfluence?ThecentraldoctrineisexpressedinBentham’sfamousformula:thetestofrightandwrongisthe’greatesthappinessofthegreatestnumber。’Therewasnothingnewinthisassertion。ItonlyexpressesthefactthatBenthamacceptedoneofthetwoalternativeswhichhavecommendedthemselvestoconflictingschoolseversinceethicalspeculationwaserectedintoaseparatedepartmentofthought。Moreover,thesidewhichBenthamtookwas,wemaysay,thewinningside。TheordinarymoralityofthetimewasUtilitarianinsubstance。Hutchesonhadinventedthesacredphrase:andHumehadbasedhismoralsystemupon’utility。’1*BenthamhadlearnedmuchfromHelvé;tiustheFrenchfreethinker,andhadbeenanticipatedbyPaleytheEnglishdivine。
ThewritingsinwhichBenthamdealsexplicitlywiththegeneralprinciplesofEthicswouldhardlyentitlehimtoahigherpositionthanthatofadiscipleofHumewithoutHume’ssubtlety;orofPaleywithoutPaley’ssingulargiftofexposition。Why,then,didBentham’smessagecomeuponhisdiscipleswiththeforceandfreshnessofanewrevelation?OuranswermustbeingeneraltermsthatBenthamfoundednotadoctrinebutamethod:andthatthedoctrinewhichcametohimsimplyasageneralprinciplewasinhishandsapotentinstrumentappliedwithmostfruitfulresultstoquestionsofimmediatepracticalinterest。
Beyondthegeneralprincipleofutility,therefore,wehavetoconsidertheorganon,constructedbyhimtogiveeffecttoageneralprincipletoovaguetobeappliedindetail。ThefullestaccountofthisiscontainedintheIntroductiontothePrinciplesofMoralsandLegislation。Thisworkunfortunatelyisafragment,butitgiveshisdoctrinevigorouslyanddecisively,withoutlosingitselfintheminutedetailswhichbecomewearisomeinhislaterwritings。
Benthamintendeditasanintroductiontoapenalcode;andhisinvestigationsenthimbacktomoregeneralproblems。Hefounditnecessarytosettletherelationsofthepenalcodetothewholebodyoflaw;andtosettlethesehehadtoconsidertheprincipleswhichunderlielegislationingeneral。
Hehadthus,hesays,to’createanewscience,’andthentoelaborateonedepartmentofthescience。The’introduction’wouldcontainprolegomenanotonlyforthepenalcodebutfortheotherdepartmentsofinquirywhichheintendedtoexhaust。2*Hehadtolaydownprimarytruthswhichshouldbetothissciencewhattheaxiomsaretomathematicalsciences。3*Thesetruthsthereforebelongtothesphereofconductingeneral,andincludehisethicaltheory。
’Naturehasplacedmankind’thatishisopeningphrase’underthegovernanceoftwosovereignmasters,painandpleasure。Itisforthemalonetopointoutwhatweoughttodo,aswellastodeterminewhatweshalldo。’thereistheunassailablebasis。IthadbeenlaiddownasunequivocallybyLocke,4*
andhadbeenembodiedinthebrilliantcoupletsofPope’sEssayonMan。5*
Attheheadofthecurioustableofuniversalknowledge,givenintheChrestomathia,wehaveEudaemonicsasanall-comprehensivenameofwhicheveryartisabranch。6*Eudaemonics,asanart,correspondstothescience’ontology。’
Itcoversthewholesphereofhumanthought。Itmeansknowledgeingeneralasrelatedtoconduct。Itsfirstprinciple,again,requiresnomoreproofthantheprimaryaxiomsofarithmeticorgeometry。Onceunderstood,itisbythesameactofthemindseentobetrue。Somepeople,indeed,donotseeit。Benthamratherignoresthananswerssomeoftheirarguments。Buthismodeoftreatingopponentsindicateshisownposition。’Happiness,’itisoftensaid,istoovagueawordtobethekeystoneofanethicalsystem;
itvariesfrommantoman:oritis’subjective,’andthereforegivesnoabsoluteorindependentgroundformorality。Amoralityof’eudaemonism’
mustbean’empirical’morality,andwecanneverextortfromitthat’categoricalimperative,’withoutwhichwehaveinsteadofatruemoralityasimplesystemof’expediency。’FromBentham’spointofviewthecriticismmustberetorted。
Heregards’happiness’aspreciselytheleastequivocalofwords;and’happiness’