Cooperative and Association

According to Atomism, all relations are external, so any unity of Atoms is nominal. Thus, insofar as Capitalism is Atomistic, a 'Cooperative' is no more than an 'Association', i. e. is no real entity distinct from its members. However, a contrast of Bentham's and Mill's varieties of Utilitarianism illustrates that between Association and Cooperative. In the former, the General Good is calculated on the basis of the sum-total of the individual consequences of each action of each member. In the latter, the General Good is calculated on the basis of the sum-total of the general consequences of each action of each member. So, there is a real distinction between the two general bodies, which can be called 'Association' and 'Cooperative', respectively, and, since self-interest might be compromised in the latter, the approval of a Capitalist of the former is not equivalent to that of the latter. That the author of Wealth of Nations, according to which the National Good has priority over the Individual Good, might not disapprove of the Cooperative model, does not seem to have occurred to many other Capitalists.