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』8-3 - 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.3 |
Human Society in Ethics and Politics, 1954, chapter 8: Ethical Controversy , n.3 | |||
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A dispute as to means is one which raises no ethical issue, but is to be decided, if it can be decided at all, on purely scientific grounds. In the days when slavery was a controversial issue, its opponents argued that it was a wasteful method of production, while its advocates denied this. In fact its wholehearted opponents would not have become favourable to it if it had been shown to be not wasteful, and its whole-hearted advocates would not have turned against it if it had been shown to be wasteful. The argument on each side was addressed to the undecided general public, which wanted cotton goods to be cheap, but cared little about slave labour on Southern plantations or child labour in Lancashire factories. For those to whom the issue of fact was decisive, slavery and child labour were not ethical questions. The realization that disputes as to means are not ethical disputes removes from the sphere of ethics a very large part of the practical questions as to which men disagree. |