Outlines of a Critical Theory of EthicsDewey, John
Philosophy
Outlines of a Critical Theory of Ethics
Dewey, John
Ethics
Is there any _indirect_ method of going from the pleasure of one to
the pleasure of all? Upon the whole, the utilitarians do not claim
that there is any natural and immediate connection between the desire
for private and for general happiness, but suppose that there are
certain means which are instrumental in bringing about an identity. Of
these means the sympathetic emotions and the influence of law and of
education are the chief. Each of these, moreover, coöperates with the
other.
1. _Sympathetic and Social Emotions._
We are so constituted by nature that we take pleasure in the happiness
of others and feel pain in their misery. A proper regard for our own
welfare must lead us, therefore, to take an interest in the pleasure
of others. Our own feelings, moreover, are largely influenced by the
feelings of others toward us. If we act in a certain way we shall
incur the disapprobation of others, and this, independently of any
overt punishment it may lead them to inflict upon us, arouses feelings
of shame, of inferiority, of being under the displeasure of others,
feelings all of which are decidedly painful. The more enlightened our
judgment, the more we see how our pleasures are bound up in those of
others.
"The Dictates of Utility" (Bentham, Op. cit., p. 56)
"are neither more nor less than the dictates of the
most extensive and enlightened (that is, well advised)
benevolence," and (p. 18), "The pleasures of benevolence
are the pleasures resulting from the view of any pleasures
supposed to be possessed by the beings who may be the
objects of benevolence.... These may also be called the
pleasures of good will, the pleasures of sympathy, or the
pleasures of the benevolent or social affections"; and (p.
144), "What motives (independent of such as legislation and
religion may choose to furnish) can one man have to consult
the happiness of another?... In answer to this, it cannot
but be admitted that the only interests which a man at all
times and upon all occasions is sure to find _adequate_
motives for consulting, are his own. Notwithstanding this,
there are no occasions in which a man has not some motives
for consulting the happiness of other men. In the first
place he has, on all occasions, the purely social motive
of sympathy and benevolence; in the next place he has,
on most occasions, the semi-social motives of love of
amity and love of reputation." And so in the Deontology,
which, however, was not published by Bentham himself, page
203, "The more enlightened one is, the more one forms the
habit of general benevolence, because it is seen that the
interests of men combine with each other in more points
than they conflict in."
2. _Education and Law._
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