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itselfasthereforeaffordingtheonesafecluetoalltheintricateproblemsofhumanconduct。TheauthorsoftheFederalist，forexample，hadsaidthatjusticewasthe’endofgovernment。’’Whynothappiness?’asksBentham。’Whathappinessiseverymanknows，becausewhatpleasureis，everymanknows，andwhatpainis，everymanknows。Butwhatjusticeis——thisiswhatoneveryoccasionisthesubject-matterofdispute。’(7*)thatphrasegiveshisviewinanutshell。Justiceisthemeans，nottheend。Thatisjustwhichproducesamaximumofhappiness。OmitallreferencetoHappiness，andJusticebecomesameaninglesswordprescribingequality，butnottellingusequalityofwhat。Happiness，ontheotherhand，hasasubstantialandindependentmeaningfromwhichthemeaningofjusticecanbededuced。Ithasthereforealogicalpriority：andtoattempttoignorethisisthewaytoallthelabyrinthsofhopelessconfusionbywhichlegislationhasbeenmadeachaos。Bentham’spositionisindicatedbyhisearlyconflictwithBlackstone，notaverypowerfulrepresentativeoftheoppositeprinciple。Blackstone，infact，hadtriedtobasehisdefenceofthateminentlyempiricalproduct，theBritishConstitution，uponsomeshowofaphilosophicalgroundwork。Hehadusedthevagueconceptionofa’socialcontract，’frequentlyinvokedforthesamepurposeattherevolutionof1688，andtoekeouthisargumentsappliedtheancientcommonplacesaboutmonarchy，aristocracy，anddemocracy。Hethustriedtoinvesttheconstitutionwiththesanctityderivedfromthismysterious’contract，’whileappealingalsototraditionortheincarnate’wisdomofourancestors，’asshownbytheirjudiciousmixtureofthethreeforms。Benthamhadaneasytask，thoughheperformeditwithremarkablevigour，inexposingtheweaknessofthisheterogeneousaggregate。Lookclosely，andthisfictitiouscontractcanimposenonewobligation：fortheobligationitselfrestsuponUtility。WhynotappealtoUtilityatonce?Iamboundtoobey，notbecausemygreat-grandfathermayberegardedashavingmadeabargain，whichhedidnotreallymake，withthegreat-grandfatherofGeorgeIII；butsimplybecauserebelliondoesmoreharmthangood。Theformsofgovernmentareabstractions，notnamesofrealities，andtheir’mixture’isapurefigment。King，Lords，andCommonsarenotreallyincarnationsofpower，wisdom，andgoodness。Theircombinationformsasystemthemeritsofwhichmustinthelastresortbejudgedbyitsworking。’Itistheprincipleofutility，accuratelyapprehendedandsteadilyapplied，thataffordstheonlyclewtoguideamanthroughthesestreights。’(8*)SomuchinfactBenthammightlearnfromHume；andtodefenduponanyothergroundthecongeriesoftraditionalarrangementswhichpassedfortheBritishConstitutionwasobviouslyabsurd。ltwasinthiswarfareagainsttheshiftingandambiguousdoctrinesofBlackstonethatBenthamfirstshowedthesuperiorityofhisownmethod：for，asbetweenthetwo，Bentham’spositionisatleastthemostcoherentandintelligible。
Blackstone，however，representslittlemorethanabitofrhetoricembodyingfragmentsofinconsistenttheories。TheMoralsandLegislationopensbybrieflyandcontemptuouslysettingasidemorephilosophicalopponentsofUtilitarianism。
The’ascetic’principle，forexample，istheformalcontradictionoftheprincipleofUtility，foritprofessedlydeclarespleasuretobeevil。Coulditbeconsistentlycarriedoutitwouldturnearthintohell。Butinfactitisatbottomanillegitimatecorollaryfromtheveryprinciplewhichitostensiblydenies。Itprofessestocondemnpleasureingeneral；itreallymeansthatcertainpleasurescanonlybeboughtatanexcessivecostofpain。
Othertheoriesarecontrivancesforavoidingtheappeal’toanyexternalstandard’；andinsubstance，therefore，theymaketheopinionoftheindividualtheoristanultimateandsufficientreason。AdamSmithbyhisdoctrineof’sympathy’makesthesentimentofapprovalitselftheultimat
