JEREMY BENTHAM

ESTUDILYO, EDRALYN PINGKIHAN, JOAN SUCGANG, LEAH MAE

OUTLINE OF BENTHAM'S LIFE
1745 3 October: Jeremiah Bentham marries Mrs
Alicia Whitehorne
1748 15 February: Birth of Jeremy Bentham.
1749 Birth of Thomas Bentham; who died in early
childhood.
1751 Birth of Alicia Bentham (d. 1752).
1752 Birth and death of Rebecca Bentham.
1753 Birth of William Bentham.
1755 Bentham, aged seven, goes to Westminster
School.Birth of Anne Bentham.
1757 11 January: Birth of Samuel Bentham.Death
of William Bentham.
1759 6 January: Death of Bentham’s mother
Alicia Bentham.
1760 Death of Anne Bentham.
June: His father takes Bentham to Oxford
and enters him at Queen’s College.
October: Bentham, aged twelve, takes up
residence at Queen’s.
1764 Graduates B.A.
1767 Graduates M.A.
1769 Admitted to the Bar.
1772 He is by now at work on the analysis of
offences and punishments which issued
partly in the Introduction to the
Principles of Morals and Legislation.
1776 A Fragment on Government, Bentham’s first
major publication,had appeared in April.
1787 He wrote A Defence of Usury.
1792 He was granted of honorary citizenship.
1802 He admitted defeat regarding to the
panopticon.
1808 took up the reform of judicial
administration in Scotch Reform
1809–1810 provided the outlines for his first
public statement in support of
representative democracy in Plan of
Parliamentary Reform in the Form of a
Catechism with Reasons for Each Article
.
.
.
.
1832 6 June: His death in London
Auto-Icon or Farther Uses of the Dead to the
Living printed 1842
WORKS OF JEREMY BENTHAM
A Fragment on Government (1776)

-It is written to refute Sir William Blackstone's

Commentaries on the Laws of England.
-Bentham sought to flush out these errors, and
‘break loose from the trammels of authority and
ancestor-wisdom on the field of law’, substituting
the rational principle of utility for the
irrational practice of tradition.
WORKS OF JEREMY BENTHAM
FIRST CLASS

• Constitutional Code (1830)

• Principles of Civil and Penal Law
• Panopticon or The Inspection House (1791)
• Plan for a General Register
• Political Tactics and some others
-to suggest such institutions and modes of
procedure as shall conduce to utility, i. e. to
insuring “the greatest possible happiness of
the greatest number”
Instruments:
• The attribution of the elective power to
every individual (Universal Suffrage)
• The renewal of the tenure of delegated power,
at brief and regularly recurring intervals
(Annual Parliaments)
• The removal of every external controul of the
voter’s individual opinion (secret voting, or
vote by Ballot)
WORKS OF JEREMY BENTHAM
SECOND CLASS

• Introduction to the Principles of Morals and

Legislation (printed 1780, published 1789)
• Rationale of Judicial Evidence
• Rationales of Reward and Punishment

*Preliminary investigations of a metaphysical

character, intended to elucidate and defend the
doctrines of his practical or constructive works
WORKS OF JEREMY BENTHAM
THIRD CLASS

• Defence of Usury
- he rejected Adam Smith’s defence of a legal
maximum for interest rates
• The Book of Fallacies
- manual of political logic

*embraces an almost countless and miscellaneous

collection of treatises
WORKS OF JEREMY BENTHAM
• Draught of a Code for the organization of the
Judicial Establishment in France (1790)
• Letter to his Fellow-citizens of France on
Senates and Second Legislative Assemblies (1831)
• Petitions for Justice and Codification
• Radical Reform Bill
• Plan of Parliamentary Reform, in the form of a
Catechism, with Reasons for each article
• Defences of Economy against Burke and Rose
• Boa-Constrictor or Helluo Curiarum
• Chrestomathia—explanatory of a proposed
school for the extension of the new system of
instruction (Lancaster’s) to the higher
branches of education
• Observations on Mr. Secretary Peel’s Speech
• Indications respecting Lord Eldon and many
others
WORKS OF JEREMY BENTHAM
POLITICAL ECONOMY
• A Manual of Political Economy (1790–95)
• A Protest Against Law Taxes (1795)
• Supply without Burthen; or Escheat Vice Taxation
(1795)
• Circulating Annuities (1799–1800)
• Paper Mischief (1800–1801)
• The True Alarm (1801)
• Institute of Political Economy (1800–4)
• Defence of a Maximum (1801)
 PONOPTICON
The panopticon is a building of circular design
intended for any institutional arrangement where
the “inmates” required constant supervision—such
as hospitals, schools, workhouses and poor houses—
but the panopticon became most well-known as a
prison for “grinding rogues honest and idle men
industrious” (1838–43, IV, 342).
"A building circular... The prisoners in their
cells, occupying the circumference—The officers
in the centre. By blinds and other contrivances,
the Inspectors concealed... from the observation
of the prisoners: hence the sentiment of a sort
of omnipresence—The whole circuit reviewable with
little, or... without any, change of place. One
station in the inspection part affording the most
perfect view of every cell."
• Great Britain
• Italy, Siena - Psychiatric Hospital
• Portugal - Security Pavilion, Museum Infirmary
• Russia - school
• Spain
• Cuba
• Columbia
• South Africa - Museum
• Australia - House
• Dublin, London, Switzerland, USA, Netherlands &
Italy, Santo Stefano - prison
 3 BASIC PRINCIPLES
1. Psychological Hedonism

The word ‘hedonism’ comes from the ancient Greek

for pleasure or motivational hedonism claims that
only pleasure or pain motivates us.

Ethical or evaluative hedonism claims that only

pleasure has worth or value and only pain or
displeasure has disvalue or the opposite of worth.
 3 BASIC PRINCIPLES
“ Nature has placed mankind under the governance
of two sovereign masters , pain and pleasure.
It is for them alone to the point out what we
ought to do so as well as to determine what we
shall do.
 3 BASIC PRINCIPLES
2. Pragmatism

The action should be chosen based upon what

choices are realistic. In other words, people who
say they approach things pragmatically most often
mean that they choose to do what is realistically
achievable given the current situation. In theory,
this seems like an excellent approach. Instead of
seeking “perfection”, the practicalist
chooses some progress over no progress.
 3 BASIC PRINCIPLES
The practicalists resign themselves to moderate
short term success in order to wholly avoid the
pain of conflict. Being resigned to the idea that
they’ll never achieve perfection, they abandon the
idea altogether and accept whatever they can get
right now.
 3 BASIC PRINCIPLES
3. Individualism
political position included arguments in favor of
individual and economic freedom, the separation of
church and state, freedom of expression, equal
rights for women, the abolition of slavery and
of physical punishment (including that of
children), the recognition of animal rights, the
right to divorce, the promotion of free
trade and usury and the decriminalization
of homosexuality.
 ADVOCATE OF LEGAL
• as a CODIFICATION
preliminary to developing a theory of penal
law he detailed the basic elements of classical
utilitarian theory.
• Utilitarianism, which evaluates actions based
upon their consequences. The relevant
consequences, in particular, are the overall
happiness created for everyone affected by the
action
• legal positivism
 POLITICAL REFORMS

ECONOMICS

Advocacy of freedom of trade and would restrict

economic growth and national prosperity by
deterring investment and innovation
 POLITICAL REFORMS
POOR LAW REFORM

The reform of policing, economic and financial

questions, judicial administration and the rules
of evidence—the last of these being a product of
his critique of the archaisms and confusions of
common law and the arbitrary character of “judge-
made law”
 POLITICAL REFORMS
JUDICIAL ADMINISTRATION

The courts would require the strict application of

the utilitarian codes of law. The overriding
consideration was the subordination of the judge
to the lawmaker, though the judge may (if
empowered) suspend the execution of the law where
utility demanded, pending a final decision by the
legislature.
 POLITICAL REFORMS
PLAN OF PARLIAMENTARY REFORM IN THE FORM OF A
CATECHISM WITH REASONS FOR EACH ARTICLE (1817)
• the elimination of royal patronage
• a substantial extension of the franchise
• annual elections by secret ballot
• the election of intellectually qualified and
independent members of parliament with a system
of fines to ensure regular attendance
• the accurate and regular publication of
parliamentary debates
• Defence of Economy against the Right
Honourable Edmund Burke and Defence of
Economy against the Right Honourable George
Rose

• Official Aptitude Maximized, Expense

Minimized (1830)
 POLITICAL REFORMS
AN ANALYSIS OF THE INFLUENCE OF NATURAL
RELIGION ON THE TEMPORAL HAPPINESS OF MANKIND

A school of thought that maintained one could use

human reason alone, unaided by faith, to deduce
the will of God from the natural order. As the
creator of a system that defined human happiness
in terms of a moral calculus based on pleasure and
pain, Bentham was quite skeptical of all claims of
religion.
 THEORY OF UTILITARIANISM
It is a normative ethical theory that places the
locus of right and wrong solely on the outcomes
(consequences) of choosing one action/policy over
other actions/policies. As such, it moves beyond
the scope of one's own interests and takes into
account the interests of others.
Bentham's Principle of Utility:
(1) Recognizes the fundamental role of pain and
pleasure in human life
(2) approves or disapproves of an action on the
basis of the amount of pain or pleasure brought
about i.e, consequences
(3) equates good with pleasure and evil with
pain, and
(4) asserts that pleasure and pain are capable
of quantification (and hence 'measure').
 TASK OF THE GOVERNMENT
PRINCIPLE OF laissez-faire STATE

Government could help the public welfare the most by

“being quiet”, that is in not doing anything much.
The task of government is to promote happiness of
society by attaining its 4 major goals which is
subsistence, abundance, equality and security for the
citizen against pain.
 TASK OF THE GOVERNMENT

DUTY OF LEGISLATION

• Optimum Pleasure and Minimum Degree of Pain

-CORRECT

• Greater Pain and Less Pleasure

-WRONG
 TASK OF THE GOVERNMENT
TWO PREMISES ON MAKING ETHICAL JUDGEMENT

1. Consequentialism
- it means morality is concerned with the effects of
actions on the happiness of individual

2. Maximization of Happiness
- it means greatest happiness in greatest number
 Nature has placed mankind under the
governance of two sovereign masters—
pain (bad) and pleasure (good)

Pleasure may be caused by the relief of pain and

satisfaction of desire.

Pain may be caused by cessation of pleasure and

frustration of desire.
 FELISIFIC/CALCULUS
The algorithm is also known as the utility calculus, the
hedonistic calculus and the hedonic calculus
The algorithm is formulated for calculating the degree or
amount of pleasure that a specific action is likely to
cause.
The felicific calculus could, in principle at least,
determine the moral status of any considered act.
 7 DIMENSIONS OF PLEASURE
INTENSITY & PAIN FECUNDITY
How strong is the pleasure? The probability that the action will
be followed by sensations of the
DURATION same kind.
How long will the pleasure last? PURITY
The probability that it will not be
CERTAINTY or followed by sensations of the
UNCERTAINTY opposite kind.
How likely or unlikely is it that the
pleasure will occur? EXTENT
PROPINQUITY or How many people will be
REMOTENESS affected?
How soon will the pleasure occur?
Intensity (I) is a measure of how intense
the pleasure or pain you will receive is.
Duration (D) is how long the
pain/pleasure will continue.
Certainty (C) is the probability of
pain/pleasure occurring.
Propinquity (N) is the time it will take for
the pain/pleasure to happen.
Fecundity (F) is the probability of the
pleasure causing more pleasure in the
future.
Purity (P) is the probability of the pain
causing more pain in the future.
Extent (E) is the number of people that
you will affect.
In these calculations, D is in units of seconds while all oth
er variables seem to be unitless values.
To set up the equation, some assumptions must be made.

There are three rules given for these assumptions:

1. Whether you like something or not is a personal decisio
n.
2. Preference has a transitive property (ie, if you like lasag
na more than ravioli and ravioli more than spaghetti, then
you must also like lasagna more than spaghetti), similar to
the transitive properties found in mathematics.
3. One will generally prefer more pleasure to less pleasure
, but less pain to more pain.
We are to calculate the value of each distinguishable
pleasure and as well as the value of each
distinguishable pain. Sum up all the values of all the
pleasures on the one side and those of all the pains on
the other. If the balance is on the side of pleasures then
the act or decision will be treated as good.
4 The PHYSICAL or NATURAL SANCTION comprises the pains and
pleasures which we may experience or expect in the ordinary course of
S nature, not purposely modified by any human interposition.

A The MORAL SANCTION comprises such pains and pleasures as we

experience or expect at the hands of our fellow beings prompted by feelings
N of hatred or goodwill or contempt or regard; in a word, according to the
C spontaneous disposition of each individual.

T The POLITICAL SANCTION is the sanction of public opinion or of

honour, or the sanction or pains and pleasures of sympathy. When the
I political authority as well as its laws and decisions happen to be the source
of pain and pleasure for the individuals we call it political.
O
RELIGIOUS SANCTION
N Sometimes religion or religious authorities-through different acts and
S decisions-create both pleasure and Pain or any one-we term it religious.
 "What is every
man's right is
no man's right"
-Jeremy Bentham, Anarchical Fallacies,
vol. 2 of Bowring (ed.), Works, 1843.
Thank You