Jeremy Bentham and Utilitarian Tradition (LAWS0051/LAWS0230)

This module provides a unique opportunity to study the ideas and influence of Jeremy Bentham (1748–1832), the famous jurist, philosopher, and reformer.

Despite concentrating on the thought of one person, the module is surprisingly wide-ranging, since Bentham made significant contributions across a wide range of disciplines, including philosophy, history, law, politics, and economics. Bentham’s ideas are related to the social, political, and intellectual context of his own time, and an assessment made of their significance for the contemporary world.  

The module is taught by scholars associated with the Bentham Project, which is currently producing a new authoritative edition of The Collected Works of Jeremy Bentham.

Module Syllabus

The syllabus is subject to change: 

1. ‘Of the farther uses of the dead to the living’: the death and life of Jeremy Bentham 

2. A Fragment on Government 

3. The principle of Utility 

4. Subsistence, Abundance, Security, and Equality: the subordinate ends of utility 

5. Bentham’s theory of punishment 

6. Panopticon: Bentham’s prison scheme 

7. Logic and language 

8. The French Revolution  

9. Parliamentary Reform 

10. Constitutional Code 

11. Panopticon versus New South Wales: Bentham and criminal transportation 

12. Colonies and colonization 

13. Theory of law 

14. Codification 

15. Torture and capital punishment 

16. Political Fallacies 

17. Religion 

18. Sexual Morality 

19. History of utilitarianism 

20. Contemporary utilitarianism

Recommended Materials

Module reading lists and other module materials will be provided via online module pages, available at the beginning of term once students have enrolled. 

For each seminar, students will be guided through the relevant section of the reading list, and essential and supplementary reading assigned. Each student is expected to read the essential materials, and preferably one or more of the supplementary materials, and be prepared to discuss their thoughts and ideas in class. Students are encouraged to make class presentations and must write one formative essay each term. 

Preliminery Reading

• J.R. Dinwiddy, Bentham, Oxford Past Masters, Oxford, 1989; also published in J.R. Dinwiddy, Bentham: Selected Writings of John Dinwiddy, ed. W. Twining, Stanford, 2004. 

• Stephen Engelmann, Selected Writings: Jeremy Bentham, New Haven and London, 2011. 

• Philip Schofield, Bentham: A Guide for the Perplexed, London, 2009. 

• There is lots of information and links to resources at the Bentham Project’s website ucl.ac.uk/bentham-project 

Key Information