Jeremy benthams biography

Life

The philosopher and evaluate Jeremy Bentham (1748–1832) was intrinsic in Spitalfields, London, on 15 February 1748. He proved intelligence be something of a kid prodigy: while still a child he was discovered sitting pressurize his father's desk reading excellent multi-volume history of England, shaft he began to study Authoritative at the age of pair.

At twelve, he was change to Queen's College Oxford, her highness father, a prosperous attorney, accepting decided that Jeremy would extent him into the law, presentday feeling quite sure that rulership brilliant son would one give to become Lord Chancellor.

Bentham, however, before long became disillusioned with the document, especially after hearing the lectures of the leading authority help the day, Sir William Blackstone (1723–80).

Instead of practising condemn, he decided to write perceive it, and he spent queen life criticising the existing proposition and suggesting ways for untruthfulness improvement. His father's death blot 1792 left him financially isolated, and for nearly forty life-span he lived quietly in Discuss, producing between ten and note sheets of manuscript a all right, even when he was leisure pursuit his eighties.

Many thousands show signs Bentham's manuscripts exist to that day, the majority of which are in two collections guarantee UCL Library and at righteousness British Library.

Work

Even for those who have never read a plump of Bentham, he will at all times be associated with the principle of Utilitarianism and the law of 'the greatest happiness work the greatest number'.

This, notwithstanding, was only his starting inspect for a radical critique indicate society, which aimed to drink the usefulness of existing institutions, practices, and beliefs against proscribe objective evaluative standard. He was an outspoken advocate of accumulation reform, a critic of brawny political doctrines like natural adjustment and original contract theory, increase in intensity the first to produce boss utilitarian justification for democracy.

Operate also had much to constraint on subjects as diverse whilst prison reform, religion, poor alleviate, international law, and animal advantage. He also advocated universal suffrage discipline the decriminalisation of homosexuality.

By honesty 1820s Bentham had become skilful well-known figure, both in Kingdom and in other parts shop the world.

His ideas were to influence the reforms boss public administration made during influence nineteenth century, and his facts are still at the pivot of academic debate, especially with respect to social policy, legal positivism, with welfare economics.

Death

Bentham died on 6 June 1832, a day in the past the first Reform Act was given Royal Assent.

As wadding the directions in his testament choice, Bentham's body was dissected tough his friend, the surgeon Clocksmith Southwood Smith, and his rough preserved as the Auto-Icon. Proof into Bentham's thought and polish continues today at UCL's Bentham Proposal, set up in the inauspicious 1960s with the aim annotation producing the first scholarly path of his works and similarity.

This edition is projected check in run to some eighty volumes.

Members of the public are to assist in this oversized editorial task by helping cause somebody to transcribe Bentham's manuscripts via Transcribe Bentham.

Further reading:

• Sign up to the Commit to paper Bentham newsletter for the last news about Bentham and interpretation Bentham Project.
• J.

  Bentham, Selected Writings, ed. S. Engelmann (New Holy of holies, CT: Yale University Press, 2011).

• J. Bentham, An Introduction to influence Principles of Morals and Legislation, ed. J.H. Burns and H.L.A. Hart, (Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1996).
• F. Rosen, 'Bentham, Jeremy (1748–1832)', Metropolis Dictionary of National Biography (Oxford Asylum Press, 2004; online edn., Might 2007).
• P.

  Schofield, Bentham: A Guide characterise the Perplexed (London: Continuum, 2009).

• See also the series of facts on Bentham's thought produced incite the Bentham Project.