[FONT="]I was reading a small blurb on "The principles of Morals and Legislations" by Jeremy Bentham, in a book called "Introducting philosophy" by Robert Solomon published by Hartcourt inc, isbn 0-15-507510-1. In it, Bentham was trying to describe a system of morality as percieved in the utilitarianism system.
Utilitariansim is the pursuit of happiness or a community scale. Bentham in his writings of "The Principles of Morals and Legistations" was suggesting that pain and pleasure are our "two sovereign masters" and that what tend to do on a day-to-day basis revolves around either gaining pleasure or dismissing non-pleasure. He further stipulated that a system of moral legislation is only as good as it ablity to be utilized, or more to the point the utility of a legal system is makes it practical and usuable or non-practical and unusable. The utility principle as presented in this writings is the utlity that can increase pleasure or retard or stop the dimishment of it.
I think that has a practical place in the UU idea of justice equity and compassion. If we take justice and equity to mean, "sense of fair play" we must have it in the context of a compassionate society. Mankind is competitive by nature. In the context of competition of resources, like money, a mate, goods, time ect a sense of fair play is constantly in flux between the ideas of "same for everyone" (same treatment same output) and those who produce and contribute more should get more.
While both are true and correct to varying degrees based on the context and community it makes is one way of analzying the notions of justice equity and compassion as a intragratable unit where as justice and equity are measured against a marker of compassion. In this way justice cannot apex or eclipse compassion and vice versa. The abstraction of this process is a testable and shapable theory on equity that is like, Bentham said practical in terms of its measurable utility.
While Bentham wasn't UU, his concept seems to fit well within the paradigm of equity, justice and compassion. The conceptions of the three of them if measured with utlility in mind, are a balancing act that have the potential to make a healthy society.
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