追求幸福不是政府的工作_BEC初级作文

追求幸福不是政府的工作

这一原则不如听起来那么理所当然。在边沁所处的时代，它就受到了许多其他原则的挑战；比如说，根据为了法国的荣耀或者普鲁士国家疆土扩大所做的贡献来衡量行为。更厉害的是亚里士多德学派的幸福观对它构成的挑战，该派认为幸福只体现在完善哲学观念中的美好生活。

Meanwhile Bentham's followers worried about how to measure happiness, eventually interpreting it as the opportunity to satisfy desires as revealed by people's choices in the marketplace or in voting. This did not satisfy the high-minded; but at least it set a high value on individual choice and did not seek to peer into men's souls.

同时，边沁的追随者们为如何衡量幸福感到焦虑，最终他们将幸福诠释为满足意愿——人们在市场中或者在投票中的选择就体现了他们的意愿——的机会。这无法让高尚的人感到满意；但它起码认为个人选择很有价值，而并未企图深入探索人的灵魂。

Critics of such utilitarianism saw it as making a fetish of gross domestic product. But this was rubbish. Economists have known for a very long time that there are many components of utility not taken into full account in measures of GDP per head. It excludes leisure, the value of work undertaken in the home, environmental harm and benefits. Some have tried to construct more comprehensive human development indices, also covering matters such as literacy, access to clean water and life expectancy. My view has always been that these matters are best considered separately rather than combined in an overall measure that inevitably reflects the personal values of those who draw it up.