bentham-第2章

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　a　world　in　which　so　many　false　things　are　believed；　in　which　so　many　which　have　been　true；　are　believed　long　after　they　have　ceased　to　be　true。　The　qualities；　however；　which　fit　men　for　perceiving　anomalies；　without　perceiving　the　truths　which　would　rectify　them；　are　not　among　the　rarest　of　endowments。　Courage；　verbal　acuteness；　command　over　the　forms　of　argumentation；　and　a　popular　style；　will　make；　out　of　the　shallowest　man；　with　a　sufficient　lack　of　reverence；　a　considerable　negative　philosopher。　Such　men　have　never　been　wanting　in　periods　of　culture；　and　the　period　in　which　Bentham　formed　his　early　impressions　was　emphatically　their　reign；　in　proportion　to　its　barrenness　in　the　more　noble　products　of　the　human　mind。　An　age　of　formalism　in　the　Church　and　corruption　in　the　State；　when　the　most　valuable　part　of　the　meaning　of　traditional　doctrines　had　faded　from　the　minds　even　of　those　who　retained　from　habit　a　mechanical　belief　in　them；　was　the　time　to　raise　up　all　kinds　of　sceptical　philosophy。　Accordingly；　France　had　Voltaire；　and　his　school　of　negative　thinkers；　and　England　（or　rather　Scotland）　had　the　profoundest　negative　thinker　on　record；　David　Hume：　a　man；　the　peculiarities　of　whose　mind　qualified　him　to　detect　failure　of　proof；　and　want　of　logical　consistency；　at　a　depth　which　French　sceptics；　with　their　comparatively　feeble　powers　of　analysis　and　abstractions　stop　far　short　of；　and　which　German　subtlety　alone　could　thoroughly　appreciate；　or　hope　to　rival。　　　　　If　Bentham　had　merely　continued　the　work　of　Hume；　he　would　scarcely　have　been　heard　of　in　philosophy。　for　he　was　far　inferior　to　Hume　in　Hume's　qualities；　and　was　in　no　respect　fitted　to　excel　as　a　metaphysician。　We　must　not　look　for　subtlety；　or　the　power　of　recondite　analysis；　among　his　intellectual　characteristics。　In　the　former　quality；　few　great　thinkers　have　ever　been　so　deficient；　and　to　find　the　latter；　in　any　considerable　measure；　in　a　mind　acknowledging　any　kindred　with　his；　we　must　have　recourse　to　the　late　Mr。　Mill　　a　man　who　united　the　great　qualities　of　the　metaphysicians　of　the　eighteenth　century；　with　others　of　a　different　complexion；　admirably　qualifying　him　to　complete　and　correct　their　work。　Bentham　had　not　these　peculiar　gifts；　but　he　possessed　others；　not　inferior；　which　were　not　possessed　by　any　of　his　precursors；　which　have　made　him　a　source　of　light　to　a　generation　which　has　far　outgrown　their　influence；　and；　as　we　called　him；　the　chief　subversive　thinker　of　an　age　which　has　long　lost　all　that　they　could　subvert。　　　　　To　speak　of　him　first　as　a　merely　negative　philosopher　　as　one　who　refutes　illogical　arguments；　exposes　sophistry；　detects　contradiction　and　absurdity；　even　in　that　capacity　there　was　a　wide　field　left　vacant　for　him　by　Hume；　and　which　he　has　occupied　to　an　unprecedented　extent；　the　field　of　practical　abuses。　This　was　Bentham's　peculiar　province：　to　this　he　was　called　by　the　whole　bent　of　his　disposition：　to　carry　the　warfare　against　absurdity　into　things　practical。　His　was　an　essentially　practical　mind。　It　was　by　practical　abuses　that　his　mind　was　first　turned　to　speculation　　by　the　abuses　of　the　profession　which　was　chosen　for　him；　that　of　the　law。　He　has　himself　stated　what　particular　abuse　first　gave　that　shock　to　his　mind；　the　recoil　of　which　has　made　the　whole　mountain　of　abuse　totter；　it　was　the　custom　of　making　the　client　pay　for　three　attendances　in　the　office　of　a　Master　in　Chancery；　when　only　one　was　given。　The　law；　he　found；　on　examination；　was　full　of　such　things。　But　were　these　discoveries　of　his？　No；　they　were　known　to　every　lawyer　who　practised；　to　every　judge　who　sat　on　the　bench；　and　neither　before　nor　for　long　after　did　they　cause　any　apparent　uneasiness　to　the　consciences　of　these　learned　persons；　nor　hinder　them　from　asserting；　whenever　occasion　offered；　in　books；　in　parliament；　or　on　the　bench；　that　the　law　was　the　perfection　of　reason。　During　so　many　generations；　in　each　of　which　thousands　of　educated　young　men　were　successively　placed　in　Bentham's　position　and　with　Bentham's　opportunities；　he　alone　was　found　with　sufficient　moral　sensibility　and　self…reliance　to　say　to　himself　that　these　things；　however　profitable　they　might　be；　were　frauds；　and　that　between　them　and　himself　there　should　be　a　gulf　fixed。　To　this　rare　union　of　self…reliance　and　moral　sensibility　we　are　indebted　for　all　that　Bentham　has　done。　Sent　to　Oxford　by　his　father　at　the　unusually　early　age　of　fifteen　　required；　on　admission；　to　declare　his　belief　in　the　Thirty…nine　Articles　　he　felt　it　necessary　to　examine　them；　and　the　examination　suggested　scruples；　which　he　sought　to　get　removed；　but　instead　of　the　satisfaction　he　expected　was　told　that　it　was　not　for　boys　like　him　to　set　up　their　judgment　against　the　great　men　of　the　Church。　After　a　struggle；　he　signed；　but　the　impression　that　he　had　done　an　immoral　act；　never　left　him；　he　considered　himself　to　have　committed　a　falsehood；　and　throughout　life　he　never　relaxed　in　his　indignant　denunciations　of　all　laws　which　command　such　falsehoods；　all　institutions　which　attach　rewards　to　them。　　　　　By　thus　carrying　the　war　of　criticism　and　refutation；　the　conflict　with　falsehood　and　absurdity；　into　the　field　of　practical　evils；　Bentham；　even　if　he　had　done　nothing　else；　would　have　earned　an　important　place　in　the　history　of　intellect。　He　carried　on　the　warfare　without　intermission。　To　this；　not　only　many　of　his　most　piquant　chapters；　but　some　of　the　most　finished　of　his　entire　works；　are　entirely　devoted：　the　'Defence　of　Usury'。　the　'Book　of　Fallacies'；　and　the　onslaught　upon　Blackstone；　published　anonymously　under　the　title　of　'　A　Fragment　on　Government'；　which；　though　a　first　production；　and　of　a　writer　afterwards　so　much　ridiculed　for　his　style；　excited　the　highest　admiration　no　less　for　its　composition　than　for　its　thoughts；　and　was　attributed　by　turns　to　Lord　Mansfield；　to　Lord　Camden；　and　（by　Dr。　Johnson）　to　Dunning；　one　of　the　greatest　masters　of　style　among　the　lawyers　of　his　day。　These　writings　are　altogether　original；　though　of　the　negative　school；　they　resemble　nothing　previously　produced　by　negative　philosophers；　and　would　have　sufficed　to　create　for　Bentham；　among　the　subversive　thinkers　of　modern　Europe；　a　place　peculiarly　his　own。　But　it　is　not　these　writings　that　constitute　the　real　distinction　between　him　and　them。　There　was　a　deeper　difference。　It　was　that　they　were　purely　negative　thinkers；　he　was　positive：　they　only　assailed　error；　he　made　it　a　point　of　conscience　not　to　do　so　until　he　thought　he　could　plant　instead　the　corresponding　truth。　Their　character　was　exclusively　analytic；　his　was　synthetic。　They　took　for　their　starting…point　the　received　opinion　on　any　subject；　dug　round　it　with　their　logical　implements；　pronounced　its　foundations　defective；　and　condemned　it：　he　began　de　novo；　laid　his　own　foundations　deeply　and　firmly；　built　up　his　own　structure；　and　bade　mankind　compare　the　two；　it　was　when　he　had　solved　the　problem　himself；　or　thought　he　had　done　so；　that　he　declared　all　other　solutions　to　be　erroneous。　Hence；　what　they　produced　will　not　last；　it　must　perish；　much　of　it　has　already　perished；　with　the　errors　which　it　exploded：　what　he　did　has　its　own　value；　by　whi