Analysis of the influence of natural religion on the temporal happiness, of mankind
Analysis of the influence of natural religion on the temporal happiness, of mankind
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自然宗教对人类现世幸福的影响分析
DOI：
10.1163/9789004280496_006
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发表时间：
2002
期刊：
影响因子：
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通讯作者：
P. Beauchamp
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
P. Beauchamp
这部鲜为人知的著作出自英国伟大哲学家、功利主义创始人杰里米·边沁之手，在当时被认为极具争议性，1822年首次以笔名《菲利普·比彻姆》出版。这篇批判性论文的重点是“自然宗教”，这一学派坚持认为，一个人可以在没有信仰的帮助下，单独使用人类的理性来从自然秩序中演绎上帝的意志。作为一种以快乐和痛苦为基础的道德演算来定义人类幸福的体系的创造者，边沁对所有关于宗教的主张都持相当怀疑的态度。因此，边沁对自然宗教对人类幸福影响的分析结果肯定是负面的，这也就不足为奇了。当英国国教在英国社会中仍然是一个非常有影响力的机构时，很容易理解这部作品为什么会被认为是有争议的。
This little-known work by Jeremy Bentham, the great English philosopher and originator of utilitarianism, was considered so controversial in its time that it was first published in 1822 under the pseudonym of 'Philip Beauchamp'. The focus of this critical treatise is 'natural religion', a school of thought that maintained one could use human reason alone, unaided by faith, to deduce the will of God from the natural order. As the creator of a system that defined human happiness in terms of a moral calculus based on pleasure and pain, Bentham was quite sceptical of all claims of religion. Thus, it is not surprising that the results of Bentham's analysis of the influence of natural religion on human happiness are decidedly negative. At a time when the Anglican Church was still a highly influential institution in English society, it is easy to understand how this work would have been considered controversial.