バートランド・ラッセル『ヒューマン・ソサエティ-倫理学から政治学へ』8-12 - Human Society in Ethics and Politics, 1954
* 原著:Human Society in Ethics and Politics, 1954* 邦訳書:バートランド・ラッセル(著),勝部真長・長谷川鑛平(共訳)『ヒューマン・ソサエティ-倫理学から政治学へ』(玉川大学出版部,1981年7月刊。268+x pp.)
『ヒューマン・ソサエティ』第8章:倫理学上の論争 n.12 |
Human Society in Ethics and Politics, 1954, chapter 8: Ethical Controversy , n.12 | |||
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When there is in fact a genuine conflict between the total desires of one man and the total desires of another -- where, that is to say, two states of affairs are possible, and one will be more pleasing to A, while the other will be more pleasing to B -- it does not seem possible, so long as we confine ourselves to the two individuals, to advocate any argument in favour of the one as against the other. But this does not mean quite what it might seem to mean, since both A and B have to take account of the desires of others. If A would like to steal B’s money, his wish is likely to be counteracted by the desire to escape censure and punishment. Each individual might profit by theft, provided he were the only thief; but everybody profits by other people’s abstinence from theft. In such cases there is a general interest which is opposed to what would be the interest of individuals if the general interest could not make itself felt. Law and government are institutions by which it is sought to bring the general interest to bear on the individual; so is public opinion in the form of praise and blame. The consequence is that, where the police are efficient, the great majority of the population find it advantageous to abstain from crime. But in the relations between sovereign States, where there is no law and no government, the arguments against national self-seeking at the expense of the rest of the world, though valid, are not sufficiently obvious to be understood either by statesmen or by large sections of the population. |