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 9
* 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９章「 」n.1 |
Human Society in Ethics and Politics, 1954, part II: The Conflict of Passions, chapter 9: Steps topwards a stable peace, n1 |
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IT is as yet a very doubtful question whether human society organized on a basis of scientific technique can or cannot be stable. I have discussed this question in Chapter VII of The Impact of Science on Society.^ I will not therefore discuss it afresh, but will quote the conclusion arrived at in that Chapter: “My conclusion is that a scientific society can be stable given certain conditions. The first of these is a single government of the whole world, possessing a monopoly of armed force and therefore able to enforce peace. The second condition is a general diffusion of prosperity, so that there is no occasion for envy of one part of the world by another. The third condition (which supposes the second fulfilled) is a low birth rate everywhere, so that the population of the world becomes stationary, or nearly so. The fourth condition is the provision for individual initiative both in work and in play, and the greatest diffusion of power compatible with maintaining the necessary political and economic framework.” Until these conditions are realized, a scientifically organized world will continue to run certain grave risks. Of these, the most catastrophic is the extinction of the human species in a large-scale war. Short of this, there is a danger of collapse into anarchy and a general lowering of the level of civilization. Such a process must inevitably be accompanied by appalling suffering, since it will involve the death by violence or starvation of about half the population of the globe. Sane men must therefore wish to see the world moving towards the fulfilment of the conditions required for stability. It cannot be said that at present the world is travelling in this direction. What hope is there of a more constructive movement in the not too distant future? |