|
Utilitarians are not nice people 功利主义者绝非善类 IN THE grand scheme of things Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart Mill are normally thoughtof as good guys. 杰里米边沁和约翰斯图亚特穆勒是公认的好好先生。 Between them, they came up with the ethical theory known as utilitarianism. 在伦理学上，他们提出了功利主义原则。 The goal of this theory is encapsulated in Bentham s aphorism that the greatest happinessof the greatest number is the foundation of morals and legislation. 从边沁的名言 最多数人的最大幸福乃道德与立法之根本 ，功利主义的原则可见一斑。 Which all sounds fine and dandy until you start applying it to particular cases. 听上去合情合理看上去美轮美奂，但是应用功利主义进行道德判断时就不是那么回事了。 A utilitarian, for example, might approve of the occasional torture of suspected terroristsfor the greater happiness of everyone else, you understand. 例如，功利主义者会同意特殊情况下对恐怖嫌疑人施以酷刑，你懂的，为了最多数人的最大幸福。 That type of observation has led Daniel Bartels at Columbia University and David Pizarro atCornell to ask what sort of people actually do have a utilitarian outlook on life. | 
