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Jeremy Bentham

British philosopher, jurist, and social reformer (1748-1832) · United Kingdom · Academics · Died at 84

Jeremy Bentham is read about 1,636 times a day, in 77 languages.

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He built a moral calculus where right and wrong collapse to a single measure: the greatest happiness of the greatest number. That cold axiom - utilitarianism - rewired Anglo-American law and still governs how we argue about policy, punishment, and what governments owe their citizens.

AcademicsAcademicPhilosophyLawLiteratureEconomicsEarly Modern Era

A life in dates

1832Died6 June 18321831“Rights are, then, the fruits of the law, and of the law alone. There are no rights without law - no rights contrary to the law - no rights anterior to the law.”In their wordsPannomial Fragments (c. 1831), quoted in The Works of Jeremy Bentham, Vol. III (1838), p. 221

1830“Create all the happiness you are able to create: remove all the misery you are able to remove.”In their words22 June 1830Advice to a young girl (22 June 1830)

“[I am] at heart more of a United-States-man than an Englishman.”In their words14 June 1830Letter to Andrew Jackson (14 June 1830), quoted in Correspondence of Andrew Jackson, Volume 4, ed. David Maydole Matteson (1929), p. 146

“It is with government, as with medicine. They have both but a choice of evils.”In their wordsPrinciples of Legislation (1830), Ch. X : Analysis of Political Good and Evil; How they are spread in society

1811“To what shall the character of utility be ascribed, if not to that which is a source of pleasure?”In their wordsThéorie des peines et des récompenses (1811); translation by Richard Smith, The Rationale of Reward, J. & H. L. Hunt, London, 1825, Bk. 3,

“Want keeps pace with dignity. Destitute of the lawful means of supporting his rank, his dignity presents a motive for malversation, and his power furnishes the means.”In their wordsThe Rationale of Reward (1811)

1748Born15 February 1748

Also in Deutsch

Photos 8

Jeremy Bentham by Henry William Pickersgill detailJeremy Bentham by Henry William Pickersgill detail"Mortal Remains" of Jeremy Bentham, 1832 Wellcome L0007730"Mortal Remains" of Jeremy Bentham, 1832 Wellcome L0007730Jeremy Bentham by Thomas FryeJeremy Bentham by Thomas FryeDefence of Usury; shewing the impolicy of the present legal restraints on the terms of pecuniary bargains ... To which is added a letter to Adam Smith ... on the discouragements opposed by t - Upper and lower cover and spine (C108s6)Defence of Usury; shewing the impolicy of the present legal restraints on the terms of pecuniary bargains ... To which is added a letter to Adam Smith ... on the discouragements opposed by t - Upper and lower cover and spine (C108s6)Four founders of UCLFour founders of UCLJeremy Bentham by JWrightJeremy Bentham by JWrightJeremy Bentham c.1790Jeremy Bentham c.1790Jeremy Bentham HouseJeremy Bentham House

In their own words 10

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Jeremy Bentham
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10 statements, newest first

  1. Rights are, then, the fruits of the law, and of the law alone. There are no rights without law - no rights contrary to the law - no rights anterior to the law.

    1831, Pannomial Fragments (c. 1831), quoted in The Works of Jeremy Bentham, Vol. III (1838), p. 221, Own words

  2. Create all the happiness you are able to create: remove all the misery you are able to remove.

    Jun 22, 1830, Advice to a young girl (22 June 1830), Own words

  3. [I am] at heart more of a United-States-man than an Englishman.

    Jun 14, 1830, Letter to Andrew Jackson (14 June 1830), quoted in Correspondence of Andrew Jackson, Volume 4, ed. David Maydole Matteson (1929), p. 146, Own words

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About this person

Born in 1748, Bentham trained as a jurist but spent his life demolishing the scaffolding of English law - dismissing natural rights as "nonsense upon stilts" while campaigning for the abolition of slavery, capital punishment, and physical punishment of children, and arguing (in secret) for decriminalizing homosexuality. His 1789 Introduction to the Principles of Morals and Legislation laid the foundation for modern utilitarianism and made him a leading theorist in legal philosophy and a quiet architect of welfarism. His students included James Mill and the latter's son John Stuart Mill, and his ideas shaped reforms to prisons, schools, poor laws, and Parliament itself. When he died in 1832 he left instructions for his body to be dissected and preserved as an "auto-icon" - a self-image in place of a statue - and it still sits on display at University College London, where the philosopher who rejected fictions became one himself.

Country
United Kingdom
Category
Academics
Type
Academic
Status
deceased
Dates
Lived 1748 to 1832 · aged 84

Academics from the United Kingdom 6

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