Good Doctrine Research Articles

Sidgwick and the many guises of the good

ABSTRACT The paper shows textual and non-textual evidence that Henry Sidgwick endorses a version of the guise of the good doctrine and a version of the guise of the reasons view. He also rejects the guise of the pleasant doctrine, criticizing Mill’s views of the relations between pleasure, desire and desirability. Sidgwick also anticipates the guise of the apparent good view, i.e. the claim that desire connects with evaluative appearances, not with evaluative full-fledged judgments.

Mill’s proof and the guise of the good

ABSTRACT The guise of the good doctrine is the view that whatever we desire, we desire it under the guise of the good, i.e. it appears good to us in some way. In this paper I first clarify the role that the doctrine of the guise of the good plays in the first step of J. S. Mill’s proof of the principle of utility (in which he shows that one’s happiness is desirable as an end). Then I provide textual evidence in favour of ascribing the doctrine to Mill, arguing that he commits to it to the extent that he equates finding something pleasant and thinking it desirable. Finally I counter two potential sources of evidence against ascribing the guise of the good to Mill: apparent desires based on ‘fixed ideas’, and those habitual desires which are no longer associated with finding their objects pleasant. I argue that ‘fixed ideas’ do not feed actual desires, and that the habitual desires which seem to escape the guise of the good, even if not uncommon, have a secondary status as desires.

‘Everything in war is very simple...’ The Great War French tank regulations and their implementation

This article examines how the French army developed its tank doctrine during the Great War. How that doctrine came to be formulated and how it worked in practice will be discussed, as will the obstacles to devising such doctrine in the context of continuous and large-scale operations on the Western Front from 1916 to the end of the war. The three French tank designs, the Schneider, the St Chamond (both medium tanks) and the Renault light tank had to be tested and developed in the field, as was the doctrine used to employ them. As will be shown, despite developing sound tank doctrine on a tactical and operational level reasonably quickly, the French army would then discover that good doctrine was only part of the equation leading to military effectiveness, illustrating Clausewitz’s dictum that ‘everything in war is very simple, but the simplest thing is difficult’.

Doctrine of public good in banking versus state intervention

This article has the following thesis: changes in banking and the role of banks in real economy in recent years give an argument for treating banks as a public good. Banks received great support from governments as a result of the subprime crisis. G-20 and European Commission recommended new regulations for this sector after the crisis. As a consequence of banking development, more than 90% of the population use banking services in many countries. New social functions of banks have appeared. Doctrines about recovery and government support for banks were changed in parallel (e.g. LoLR). Presently, there are some arguments for recognition of public good doctrine in banking such as: a very big area for state regulation, state banking supervision, state system of deposits insurance, realization of task delegated by the state, social responsibility of banks and others. These arguments confirm that banks’ activity has a particular importance for the society and the economy, and would be public good.

William James and Henri Poincaré

Mr. Chairman, Ladies and Gentlemen: A good many times today I have heard it said that we should emphasize in class those things that would interest the man in the street. I suppose that this is good doctrine. But if it is sound, it seems to me that our most important task is to find the right man in the street. Some years ago I succeeded in doing this to a marked degree here in Worcester. Between my sophomore and junior years in college I spent some time tramping in the White Mountains and on the way took the opportunity to see a little of New England. I had a very pleasant trolley trip starting from Hartford, including Springfield, Amherst, Northampton and ending here in Worcester. I had never been off the train in Worcester before and had only a few hours to stay. I knew nothing of the city except its population and the hours of a few departing trains. What should I see? What should T do? I went to the man in the street, the first policeman that I saw, and told him my plight. To my surprise he directed me to the Art Gallery. It was an unexpected answer but a very good one, for it is truly a gallery of which to be proud.