There was no original desire of it, or motive to it, save its conduciveness to pleasure, and especially to protection from pain.
This is indicated even by the main fact already cited,--that the utilitarian economists make exchange value the central feature of their theories, rather than the conduciveness of industry to the community's material welfare.
And in the utilitarian theories of production, arrived at from the standpoint so given by exchange value, the conduciveness to welfare is not the objective point of the argument.
In the former case it is the conducivenessto pleasure of certain kinds of action that is methodically ascertained: in the latter case, their rightness: there is therefore no proper opposition.
In England also, its conduciveness to professional excellence might be hard to prove.
Then the admission amounts to an assertion that the conduciveness is shown by experience; and this involves abandonment of the doctrine that there is no origin for morals apart from divine injunctions.
Nevertheless, it may be shown that conduciveness to happiness, here represented as an incidental trait of the acts which receive these innate moral approvals, is really the test by which these approvals are recognized as moral.
It would seem to be both good and bad; good in its conduciveness to the satisfaction of my present appetite, bad in its preventing my enjoyment of the play.
The moral value of your action lies wholly in its conduciveness to this interest, because it is controlled wholly by it.
Conduciveness to Progress, thus understood, includes the whole excellence of a government.
Now, the excellence of all rules depends on their conduciveness to the object they have in view.
Whence, if so much be admitted, it necessarily follows that the test of the morality of actions is theirconduciveness to enjoyment.
The excellence of all rules of life must, therefore, depend on their conduciveness to the sole object which life has in view, viz.
They were regarded by the two great parties from the point {279} of view of economic policy, and were supported or opposed by them on the ground of conduciveness or lack of conduciveness to the public welfare.
