ȃȃȇ Partʺʺ: Politics and Philosophy
attainment of all his ends.... As social cooperation is ... a means and
not an end, no unanimity with regard to value judgments is required to
make it work.... Ļe characteristic feature of a free society is that it can
function in spite of the fact that its members disagree in many judgments
of value.
Utilitarianism “dispels the notion that society, the state, the nation,
or any other social entity is an ultimate end and that individual men are
the slaves of that entity. It rejects the philosophies of universalism, collec-
tivism, and totalitarianism. In this sense it is meaningful to call utilitari-
anism a philosophy of individualism” (MisesȀȈȆȈ/ȀȈȇȄ, p.ȁȇ).
In an essay ofȀȈȄǿMises wrote:
Social cooperation under the division of labor is the ultimate and sole
source of man’s success in his struggle for survival and his endeavors to
improve as much as possible the material conditions of his well-being.
But as human nature is, society cannot exist if there is no provision
for preventing unruly people from actions incompatible with commu-
nity life. In order to preserve peaceful cooperation, one must be ready to
resort to violent suppression of those disturbing the peace. (ȀȈȈǿ, p.ȂǿȂ)
Ļe following comes from an essay ofȀȈȃȄ:
Ļe sacrifice that a man or a group makes in renouncing some short-run
gains, lest they endanger the peaceful operation of the apparatus of social
cooperation, is merely temporary. It amounts to an abandonment of a
small immediate profit for the sake of incomparably greater advantages
in the long run.
Such is the core of the moral teachings of nineteenth-century utilitari-
anism. Observe the moral law for your own sake, neither out of fear of
hell nor for the sake of other groups, but for your own benefit. Renounce
economic nationalism and conquest, not for the sake of foreigners and
aliens, but for the benefit of your own nation and state.
It was the partial victory of this philosophy that resulted in the marvelous
economic and political achievements of modern capitalism....
Ļe scientific basis of this utilitarian ethics was the teachings of eco-
nomics. Utilitarian ethics stands and falls with economics.
[But our age witnesses a] revolt against rationalism, economics, and util-
itarian social philosophy; it is at the same time a revolt against freedom,
democracy, and representative government.
[Ļe anti-liberals call their adversaries names.] Rationalism is called
superficial and unhistoric. Utilitarianism is branded as a mean system