Jeremy Bentham  

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 +"By ‘[[utility]]’ is meant the property of something whereby it tends to produce benefit, advantage, pleasure, good, or happiness...[or] to prevent the happening of mischief, pain, evil, or unhappiness to the party whose interest is considered." --''[[An Introduction to the Principles of Morals and Legislation]]'' (1781) Jeremy Bentham
 +<hr>
 +"[[Natural rights]] is simple nonsense: natural and imprescriptible rights, rhetorical nonsense—nonsense upon stilts."--"[[Critique of the Doctrine of Inalienable, Natural Rights]]" () by Jeremy Bentham
 +|}
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-'''Jeremy Bentham''' ([[February 15]] , [[1748]] [[O.S.]] ([[February 26]], [[1748]] [[N.S.]]) &ndash; [[June 6]], [[1832]]) was an [[England|English]] [[jurist]], [[philosopher]], and legal and [[social reform]]er. He was a political radical and a leading theorist in Anglo-American philosophy of law. He is best known as an early advocate of [[utilitarianism]] and [[animal rights]] who influenced the development of [[liberalism]].  
-== Panopticon ==+'''Jeremy Bentham''' (15 February 1748 – 6 June 1832) was an [[English philosopher]], [[jurist]], and [[social reformer]] regarded as the founder of modern [[utilitarianism]].
-Among his many proposals for legal and social reform was a design for a prison building he called the [[Panopticon]]. Although it was never built, the idea had an important influence upon later generations of thinkers. Twentieth-century French philosopher [[Michel Foucault]] argued that the Panopticon was paradigmatic of a whole raft of nineteenth-century 'disciplinary' institutions.+Bentham defined as the "fundamental [[axiom]]" of his philosophy the principle that "it is the greatest happiness of the greatest number that is the measure of right and wrong." He became a leading theorist in [[Anglo-Americans|Anglo-American]] [[philosophy of law]], and a political radical whose ideas influenced the development of [[welfarism]]. He advocated [[Individualism|individual]] and [[economic freedom]]s, the [[separation of church and state]], [[freedom of expression]], equal rights for women, the right to divorce, and (in an unpublished essay) the decriminalising of homosexual acts. He called for the abolition of [[abolitionism|slavery]], [[capital punishment#Abolition of capital punishment|capital punishment]] and [[physical punishment]], including that of children. He has also become known as an early advocate of [[animal rights]]. Though strongly in favour of the extension of [[Individual and group rights|individual legal rights]], he opposed the idea of [[natural law]] and [[natural rights]] (both of which are considered "divine" or "God-given" in origin), calling them "nonsense upon stilts." Bentham was also a sharp critic of [[legal fiction]]s.
-{{GFDL}} +
-<P>XXXVI. First, then, with regard to offences which affects +Bentham's students included his secretary and collaborator [[James Mill]], the latter's son, [[John Stuart Mill]], the legal philosopher [[John Austin (legal philosopher)|John Austin]], American writer and activist [[John Neal (writer)|John Neal]], as well as [[Robert Owen]], one of the founders of [[utopian socialism]]. He "had considerable influence on the reform of prisons, schools, poor laws, law courts, and Parliament itself."
- person and reputation together. When any man, by a mode of treatment +
- which affects the person, injures the reputation of another, his end +
- and purpose must have been either his own immediate pleasure, or that +
- sort of reflected pleasure, which in certain circumstances may be +
- reaped from the suffering of another. Now the only immediate pleasure +
- worth regarding, which any one can reap from the person of another, +
- and which at the same time is capable of affecting the reputation of +
- the latter, is the pleasure of the sexual appetites. This pleasure, +
- then, if reaped at all, must have been reaped either against the +
- consent of the party, or with consent. If with consent, the consent +
- must have been obtained either freely and fairly both, or freely but +
- not fairly, or else not even freely; in which case the fairness is out +
- of the question. If the consent be altogether wanting, the offence is +
- called <I>rape: </I>if not fairly obtained, <I>seduction </I>simply: +
- if not freely, it may be called <I>forcible seduction. </I>In any +
- case, either the offence has gone the length of consummation, or has +
- stopped short of that period; if it has gone that length, it takes one +
- or other of the names just mentioned: if not, it may be included alike +
- in all cases under the denomination of a <I>simple lascivious injury. +
- </I>Lastly, to take the case where a man injuring you in your +
- reputation, by proceedings that regard your person, does it for the +
- sake of that sort of pleasure which will sometimes result from the +
- contemplation of another's pain. Under these circumstances either the +
- offence has actually gone the length of a corporal injury, or it has +
- rested in menacement: in the first case it may be styled a <I>corporal +
- insult; </I>in the other, it may come under the name of <I>insulting +
- menacement. </I>And thus we have six genera, or kind of offences, +
- against person and reputation together; which, when ranged in the +
- order most commodious for consideration, will stand thus: +
-<BR>1. Corporal insults. +
-<BR>2. Insulting menacement. +On his death in 1832, Bentham left instructions for his body to be first dissected, and then to be permanently preserved as an "auto-icon" (or self-image), which would be his memorial. This was done, and the auto-icon is now on public display in the entrance of the Student Centre at [[University College London]] (UCL). Because of his arguments in favour of the general availability of education, he has been described as the "spiritual founder" of UCL. However, he played only a limited direct part in its foundation.
-<BR>3. Seduction. + 
-<BR>4. Rape. +== Key concepts==
-<BR>5. Forcible seduction. +*[[Panopticon]]
-<BR>6. Simple lascivious injuries.+ 
 +== Texts ==
 +*[[An Introduction to the Principles of Morals and Legislation]]
 +{{GFDL}}

Revision as of 23:19, 28 October 2020

"By ‘utility’ is meant the property of something whereby it tends to produce benefit, advantage, pleasure, good, or happiness...[or] to prevent the happening of mischief, pain, evil, or unhappiness to the party whose interest is considered." --An Introduction to the Principles of Morals and Legislation (1781) Jeremy Bentham


"Natural rights is simple nonsense: natural and imprescriptible rights, rhetorical nonsense—nonsense upon stilts."--"Critique of the Doctrine of Inalienable, Natural Rights" () by Jeremy Bentham

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Jeremy Bentham (15 February 1748 – 6 June 1832) was an English philosopher, jurist, and social reformer regarded as the founder of modern utilitarianism.

Bentham defined as the "fundamental axiom" of his philosophy the principle that "it is the greatest happiness of the greatest number that is the measure of right and wrong." He became a leading theorist in Anglo-American philosophy of law, and a political radical whose ideas influenced the development of welfarism. He advocated individual and economic freedoms, the separation of church and state, freedom of expression, equal rights for women, the right to divorce, and (in an unpublished essay) the decriminalising of homosexual acts. He called for the abolition of slavery, capital punishment and physical punishment, including that of children. He has also become known as an early advocate of animal rights. Though strongly in favour of the extension of individual legal rights, he opposed the idea of natural law and natural rights (both of which are considered "divine" or "God-given" in origin), calling them "nonsense upon stilts." Bentham was also a sharp critic of legal fictions.

Bentham's students included his secretary and collaborator James Mill, the latter's son, John Stuart Mill, the legal philosopher John Austin, American writer and activist John Neal, as well as Robert Owen, one of the founders of utopian socialism. He "had considerable influence on the reform of prisons, schools, poor laws, law courts, and Parliament itself."

On his death in 1832, Bentham left instructions for his body to be first dissected, and then to be permanently preserved as an "auto-icon" (or self-image), which would be his memorial. This was done, and the auto-icon is now on public display in the entrance of the Student Centre at University College London (UCL). Because of his arguments in favour of the general availability of education, he has been described as the "spiritual founder" of UCL. However, he played only a limited direct part in its foundation.

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