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JEREMY BENTHAM (1748 ¡V 1832)
Jeremy Bentham was the real founder of the utilitarian school of political philosophy. Born in 1748, Bentham soon showed that he was an intellectual prodigy. ... Bentham had a scientific bent of mind, given to introspection. ... From Priestley¡¦s Essay on Government, Bentham learnt that the true end of the state was to promote the happiness of the greatest number. ...
In 1776 Bentham wrote his Fragment on Government, advocating change in the government laws of England, which brought him into contact with the ardent reformers and politicians of his day. Bentham had written a number of treatises, the most important of which are:
o Fragment on Government, 1776: here, Bentham introduces the concept of utility as a criterion for morals and jurisprudence indicating the scope of its application to both fields and thereby exposing the inadequacy of the prevailing abstract notions of natural law and natural rights. ... What attracts our attention here is that Bentham unites psychology, ethics, jurisprudence and politics in such a way that he supersedes Helvetius, Hutcheson, Hume, Shaftesbury and Adam Smith. ...
Bentham became the leader of radical philosophers; among who were such intellectual celebrities as David Ricardo, James Mill, John Stuart Mill, John Austin and George Grote. During his lifetime Bentham legislated not only for England, but also for France, Russia, Mexico and Chili. ...
Bentham¡¦s life is divisible into 2 parts i. ... In the first part, Bentham was a Tory, interested in legal philosophy based on the principle of utility and in reform and codification of English law. ... In 1824, Bentham founded the Westminister Review, and organ of radicalism. ...
Jeremy Bentham is the real founder of the Utilitarian school because it was he who first gave the utilitarian system a systematic exposition and gave currency to conceptions which are characteristic of Utilitarianism.
The political philosophy of Bentham centers around the principle of ¡¥utility¡¦ in which he discovers a practical commandment as well as scientific law, a proposition which is at one and the same time what is and what ought to be. ... Bentham says that, ¡§nature has placed mankind under the government of two sovereign masters, pain and pleasure. ...
Bentham attaches 3 conditions to his principle of utility:
„X It must be clear and precise. ...
Bentham ignored the influence of conscience or moral sense in human conduct. Bentham¡¦s doctrine of utility applied not only to morals, but also to legislation and politics. ... Political institutions ought to be so devised that everybody has a share in the control of government.
Approximate Word count = 2031
Approximate Pages = 8.1
(250 words per page double spaced)
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