下载辰思小说免费APP
principlemayonlymeanadoctrinewhichisperfectlycompatiblewithabeliefin’altruism’——thedoctrine，namely，thatasafactmostpeoplearechieflyinterestedbytheirownaffairs。Thelegislator，hetellsus，shouldtrytoincreasesympathy，butthelesshetakessympathyforthe’basisofhisarrangements’——thatis，thelesscallhemakesuponpurelyunselfishmotives——thegreaterwillbehissuccess。(121*)Thisisashrewdand，Ishouldsay，averysoundremark，butitimplies——notthatallmotivesareselfishinthelastanalysis，but——thatthelegislationshouldnotassumetooexaltedalevelofordinarymorality。TheutterancesintheveryunsatisfactoryDeontologyareoflittlevalue，andseemtoimplyamoralsentimentcorrespondingtoapettyformofcommonplaceprudence。(122*)
Leavingthispoint，however，theproblemnecessarilypresenteditselftoBenthaminaforminwhichselfishnessisthepredominatingforce，andanyrecognitionofindependentbenevolenceratheranincumbrancethanahelp。
Ifwetakethe’self-preferenceprinciple’absolutely，thequestionbecomeshowamultitudeofindividuals，eachseparatelypursuinghisownhappiness，cansoarrangemattersthattheirjointactionmaysecurethehappinessofall。Clearlyaman，howeverselfish，hasaninterestgenerallyinputtingdowntheftandmurder。Heisalreadyprovidedwithanumberofintereststowhichsecurity，atleast，andthereforearegularadministrationofjustice，isessential。Hisshopcouldnotbecarriedonwithoutthepolice；andhemayagreetopaytheexpenses，evenifothersreapthebenefitingreaterproportion。Atheoryoflegislation，therefore，whichsupposesreadyformedalltheinstinctswhichmakeadecentcommercialsocietypossiblecandowithoutmuchreferencetosympathyoraltruism。Bentham’smanisnotthecolourlessunitofaprioriwriting，northenoblesavageofRousseau，buttherespectablecitizenwithapolicemanroundthecorner。Suchamanmaywellholdthathonestyisthebestpolicy；hehasenoughsympathytobekindtohisoldmother，andhelpafriendindistress；buttheneedofromanticandelevatedconductrarelyoccurstohim；andtheheroic，ifhemeetsit，appearstohimasanexception，notfarremovedfromthesilly。Hedoesnotreflect——especiallyifhecaresnothingforhistory——howeventhesocietyinwhichheisacontentedunithasbeenbuiltup，andhowmuchloyaltyandheroismhasbeenneededforthework；noreven，todohimjustice，whatunsuspectedcapacitiesmaylurkinhisowncommonplacecharacter。Thereallycharacteristicpointis，however，thatBenthamdoesnotclearlyfacetheproblem。Heiscontenttotakeforgrantedasanultimatefactthattheself-interestprincipleinthelongruncoincideswiththegreatest’happiness’principle，andleavestheproblemtohissuccessors。Thereweshallmeetitagain。
Finally，Bentham’sviewofreligionrequiresaword。Theshortreply，however，wouldbesufficient，thathedidnotbelieveinanytheology，andwasinthemainindifferenttothewholequestiontillitencounteredhiminpoliticalmatters。HisfirstinterestapparentlywasrousedbytheeducationalquestionswhichIhavenoticed，andtheproposaltoteachthe
