 Bertrand Russell Quotes 366 |
Right conduct is conduct which maximizes the balance of value over disvalue or minimizes the balance of disvalue over value, the choice being among acts that are possible.
Source: Bertrand Russell: Human Society in Ethics and Politics, (1954), chapter 10：Is there ethical knowledge ?
More info.: https://russell-j.com/cool/47T-1101.htm
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This expression has been used once before, but it is easy to misunderstand or mistranslate, so I would like to quote it again to confirm it.
If you translate "disvalue" used here as "worthless" or "disregard", you will not know what Russell is talking about. As logician and mathematician, Russell says that 'value' is (positive) value and 'disvalue' is (negative) value (anti-value), and that the correct (proper) action is to maximise the difference (balance) of 'value' against 'anti-value'.
An attitude that assumes an absolute value and ignores everything else is undesirable. Both 'fanatical' patriotism and xx 'absolute' opposition are abhorrent to Russell.