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person1780s-1832

Jeremy Bentham

Disciplines:
philosophy
jurisprudence/legal theory

Summary

British philosopher who founded utilitarianism — the greatest happiness of the greatest number — and designed the panopticon prison as the model of efficient social control.

Core Contribution

Utilitarianism: pleasure and pain are the sovereign masters of mankind — morality requires maximizing pleasure and minimizing pain. The felicific calculus: a method of measuring pleasure and pain. The Panopticon: a prison design in which a central guard tower can observe all prisoners without being seen — used by Foucault as the model of modern disciplinary society. Law reform: contributed to the codification of English law.

Key Spikes & Highlights

  • Requested that his body be preserved as an 'auto-icon' after his death — his mummified remains, dressed in his own clothes and topped by a wax head, are still on display at University College London.
  • The Panopticon design was never built — but Foucault's adoption of it as the metaphor for modern disciplinary society (Discipline and Punish) gave Bentham an influence he never had in his lifetime.

Notable Works & Achievements

An Introduction to the Principles of Morals and Legislation

The Panopticon Writings

Historical Influences

David Hume Joseph Priestley

Intellectual Lineage

British Empiricism Legal Positivism

Contemporaries & Peers

James Mill Adam Smith

Minds Influenced

John Stuart Mill Utilitarianism

Intellectual Posterity

Utilitarianism Legal Positivism Prison Reform

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