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』第2部[「情熱の葛藤」- 第2章- Human Society in Ethics and Politics, 1954, Part II, chapter 5
* 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2部「情熱の葛藤」- 第5章「結束(団結)と競争」n.13 |
Human Society in Ethics and Politics, 1954, part II: The Conflict of Passions, chapter 5: Cohesion and Rivalry, n13 | |||
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Neither complete disruption nor complete cohesion has characterized recent developments in the military sphere, which are perhaps at the moment more important than any of the matters we have been considering. From a military point of view there are two great concentrations: that of the Communist Bloc, and that of the Western Powers. Cohesion and rivalry working together from the first clash of savage tribes to the present day, have gradually, by a process which has a terrible inevitability, come to the point where each reaches the greatest development that is compatible with the existence of the other. The more cohesion, the greater is the chance of victory; the more rivalry, the greater is the motive to cohesion within each group. The working of these two forces, given sufficient technical efficiency, leads naturally to the concentration of military power in one or other of two rival groups. And this, in turn, if the rivalry continues and the technical efficiency keeps on increasing, can hardly have any end except mutual annihilation. If it is to have a less tragic end, rivalry must learn to take less destructive forms. Can men learn to find it as delightful to defeat each other in sporting events, as to kill each other? Can they learn to be content with rivalry in the arts and sciences and the amenities of daily life? Can they learn to be content with a life freed from the correlative impulses of fear and ferocity? I do not know; but if they cannot, our species is doomed. |