摘要
功利主义是在自由主义基础上建立起来的,在某种意义上说,对功利主义的认识,也就是对自由主义的认识,更是对自由主义与社群主义之争的再认识。功利主义理论以功利原则为基点,从边沁创立到密尔发展和完善。边沁主张以"最大多数人获得最大幸福"为道德的最高标准;密尔则以更加人性化和减少计算的方式来使功利主义趋于完善。桑德尔对此提出质疑,他认为功利主义并未充分尊重个人权利及重视个人价值尺度的差异性,甚至将人类的生命以货币价值为衡量是一种倒退现象。由此,桑德尔提出自己对权利与善何者优先性的观点。这个争论的结果对当前中国道德生活建设也具有启发性。
Utilitarianism is founded on the tenets of liberalism, the philosophical understanding of utilitarianism lends support to the understanding of liberalism, and further to the reflection of the prolonged debate between liberalism and communitarianism. The theories of utilitarianism are centered on the interpretation and application of the principle of utility, which was initially proposed by Bentham and later developed as well as culminated by Mill. Bentham holds the percept of maximum ulities in total to be the very definition of what is morally right, while Mill's attempt is to revise the methods of calculation to be more humanistic and less complex. Sandel, however, casts objections to the common ground of utilitarianism by showing why this theory, if ever justified, unavoidably fails to take the rights of individual seriously, nor could it be compatible with the prevailing liberal values justifying individualistic conception of goods. The irony of endorsing the theory of utilitarianism is that it cannot possiblly make the respect of human life an intellectually consistent theme informing moral deeds, for under the tenets of utilitarianism, the happiness of individual is merely instrumentally valuable insofar as it maximize the calculus in the economy, yet the theory recedes to silence as in what way one's selfvaluing of happiness can be a justifiable end by its own. Sandel's proposal of right versus good is an acute engagement on and response to this issue, which could shed light to the improvement of morals in China.
出处
《哲学分析》
2014年第1期110-117,198-199,共8页
Philosophical Analysis
