to range all the
indefinitely complex phenomena which arise under some simple law of
force. If Bentham's aim could have been achieved, 'utility' would have
been in legislative theories what gravitation is in astronomical
theories. All human conduct being ruled by pain and pleasure, we could
compare all motives and actions, and trace out the consequences of any
given law. I shall have hereafter to consider how this conception worked
in different minds and was applied to different problems: what were the
tenable results to which it led, and what were the errors caused by the
implied oversight of some essential considerations.

Certain weaknesses are almost too obvious to be specified. He claimed to
be constructing a science, comparable to the physical sciences. The
attempt was obviously chimerical if we are to take it seriously. The
makeshift doctrine which he substitutes for psychology would be a
sufficient proof of the incapacity for his task. He had probably not
read such writers as Hartley or Condillac, who might have suggested some
ostensibly systematic theory. If he had little psychology he had not
even a conception of 'sociology.' The 'felicific calculus' is enough to
show the inadequacy of his method. The purpose is to enable us to
calculate the effects of a proposed law. You propose to send robbers to
the gallows or the gaol. You must, says Bentham, reckon up all the evils
prevented: the suffering to the robbed, and to those who expect to be
robbed, on the one hand; and, on the other, the evils caused, the
suffering to the robber, and to the tax-payer who keeps the constable;
then strike your balance and make your law if the evils prevented exceed
the evils caused. Some such calculation is demanded by plain common
sense. It points to the line of inquiry desirable. But can it be
adequate? To estimate the utility of a law we must take into account all
its 'effects.' What are the 'effects' of a law against robbery? They are
all that is implied in the security of property. They correspond to the
difference between England in the eighteenth century and England in the
time of Hengist and Horsa; between a country where the supremacy of law
is established, and a country still under the rule of the strong hand.
Bentham's method may be applicable at a given moment, when the social
structure is already consolidated and uniform. It would represent the
practical arguments for establishing the police-force demanded by
Colquhou