Jeremy Bentham
Jeremy Bentham was born in London in 1748 and died in 1832.
He devised the doctrine of
utilitarianism, arguing that the ‘greatest happiness of
the greatest number is the only right and proper end of
government’. He was a major thinker in the fields of legal
philosophy and representative democracy, and originated
modern ideas of surveillance through his scheme for a panopticon
prison.
He supported the idea of equal opportunity in
education and his ideas contributed to the foundation of University
College London in
1826, the first institution in England to admit students of
any race, class or religion and the first to welcome women
on equal terms with men.
Bentham’s Circle
Bentham had many associates and acolytes. He was invited to
Bowood, the house of William
Petty, 2nd Earl of Shelburne and 1st Marquess of Lansdowne,
where he met Samuel
Romilly and
Étienne Dumont. He was friends with Henry
Brougham, George
Grote, David
Ricardo and
the radical artisan Francis
Place.
Perhaps his most significant relationship was
with James
Mill and his
son John
Stuart Mill, both of whom were profoundly influenced by,
and helped to edit, Bentham’s works. James Mill met Bentham
around 1808 and spent summers with Bentham and his circle at Forde
Abbey, Bentham’s country house in Somerset.
Bentham’s ideas inspired James Mill’s Essay
on Government (1820)
and the work of John Stuart Mill including On
Liberty (1859)
and Utilitarianism (1863).
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Forde Abbey
