投资 · 西方古典
托马斯·马尔萨斯:人口论·摘录 134
托马斯·马尔萨斯《人口论》· An Essay on the Principle of Population · 投资
That human laws either do, or can, proportion the punishment accurately to the offence, no person will have the folly to assert. From the inscrutability of motives the thing is absolutely impossible, but this imperfection, though it may be called a species of injustice, is no valid argument against human laws. It is the lot of man, that he will frequently have to choose between two evils; and it is a sufficient reason for the adoption of any institution, that it is the best mode that suggests itself of preventing greater evils. A continual endeavour should undoubtedly prevail to make these institutions as perfect as the nature of them will admit. But nothing is so easy as to find fault with human institutions; nothing so difficult as to suggest adequate practical improvements. It is to be lamented, that more men of talents employ their time in the former occupation than in the latter.
出处:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/4239
定位:Excerpt 134 · 核对日期:2026-10-19 · 核验:短摘录
白话
马尔萨斯承认,人类法律无法精确衡量罪行与惩罚,因为动机不可窥探,这种不完美可以说是一种不公,但不能因此否定法律。人常要在两种恶之间选择,只要某种制度是防止更大恶的最佳方式,就足以采用。我们应不断改进制度,但挑毛病最容易,提出可行的改进最难。可悲的是,有才能的人多把时间花在批评上,而不是建设上。核心是:接受不完美,务实改进,少空谈批评。
上下文
马尔萨斯回应葛德文对法律制度的批评,强调现实中的权衡与渐进改善。
今日一问
面对不完美的制度,你更倾向于抱怨还是提出可操作的改进建议?
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