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Introduction to Political Theories 2: Modern

A Digest on Bentham’s Political Thought

Submitted by:

Jones Bradley A. Ursal 09159616213

Submitted to:

Gary B. Lapiz, BA PoS, BPA, MPA, DPA

LIFE

Jeremy Bentham was an English philosopher, jurist, political radical and social

reformer; more importantly, he was regarded as the founder of modern

utilitarianism. He was born on February 15, 1748 on London, England, Kingdom of

Great Britain. He was a son and grandson of attorneys. His father, a prosperous

attorney, sent him to Queen’s College Oxford in 1760, having decided that Jeremy

would follow him into law, believing that his brilliant son would one day be Lord

Chancellor of England. Upon graduation 1764, he studied law at Lincoln’s Inn.

Bentham, however, soon became disillusioned with the law, especially after

hearing the lectures of the leading authority of the day, Sir William Blackstone.

Instead of practicing the law, he decided to write about it, and he spent his life

criticizing the existing laws and suggesting ways for its improvement. Moreover, he

devoted most of his life to writing on matters of legal reform- although, he made

little effort to publish much of what he wrote. Influenced by many enlightenment

thinkers, especially empiricist such as John Locke and David Hume, Bentham

developed an ethical theory grounded in a largely empiricist account of human

nature.

Bentham’s work in a life time revolved around civil, procedural, and

constitutional law. As a by-product of such, his writings ranged across ethics,

ontology, logic, political economy, judicial administration, poor law, prison reform,

international law, education, religious beliefs and institutions, government and

administration. Thus, this made Bentham to become of the great thinkers in modern

philosophy.

His father’s death in 1792 left him financially independent, and for nearly forty

years he lived quietly in Westminster, producing between ten and twenty sheets of

manuscript a day. He died on 6 June 1832. As per directions in his will, Bentham’s
body was dissected, embalmed, dressed, and placed in a chair, and to this day

resides in a cabinet in a corridor of the main building of University College.

WORK

Bentham, in his time, expresses his strong beliefs or judgments regarding

certain social or political concerns. He wrote a great deal to philosophy of law,

spending most of his life critiquing the existing law and dedicated in analytic

jurisprudence, law reform, and social and political improvement. This led Bentham

in writing lots of commentaries, critiques, manuscripts, and books which gave way

for Bentham to create notable masterpieces.

Bentham, as politically and socially inclined or involved, the most famous and

notable work of Bentham is the Introduction to the Principles of Morals and

Legislation. Bentham believed that happiness or pleasure is the only thing that is

good for its own sake. He believed that humans, by nature, are motivated exclusively

by desire for pleasure and ethically they should seek to maximize pleasure.

Furthermore, this book determines what a system of laws would look like if it was

constructed on a purely utilitarian basis. To that end, Bentham offers painstaking

analyses of various kinds of pleasures and pains, the sources of pleasures and pains,

how pleasures and pains should be measured, the morally and legally relevant

components of human actions, the negative consequences of harmful acts, types of

behavior that are “unmeet” for punishment, and the various classes of offenses. This

moral philosophy evaluates relevant consequences, in particular, are the overall

happiness created for everyone affected by the action. Furthermore, it focuses on

the results, or consequences, of our actions, and treats intentions as irrelevant.

Simply, the actions should be measured in terms of the happiness, or pleasure, that

they produce. After all, happiness is our final end- it’s what we do everything else

for. The principle of utilitarianism is a hedonistic moral theory- pleasure or

happiness is the most important goal in life of every individual and work to avoid
pain. However, utilitarianism is not egoistic, but rather, it is other-regarding. An

individual should pursue pleasure or happiness not only for ourselves, but as for

many sentient being as possible. As for Bentham, the objective of all legislation

should be “greatest happiness of the greatest number”. There are 7 factors to be be

considered in weighting the value of pleasure or pain: its intensity, its duration, its

degree of certainty, its propinquity or remoteness, its fecundity, its purity, and its

extent. This theory is an explanation that the purpose of civil or criminal laws is to

maximize the amount of pleasure or happiness which may be enjoyed by society.

Bentham provides a classification of the various kinds of pleasures and pains.

Pleasures and pains may be caused by various kinds of sensations, thoughts,

emotions, memories, expectations, and associations. Simple pleasures and pains

may be combined to form complex pleasures and pains. Pleasure may be caused by

the satisfaction if desire and pain may be caused by the frustration of desire.

Bentham also divided motives into two kinds: seducing (corrupting) and tutelary

(preservatory). Seducing motives causes an individual to perform wrongful acts,

while tutelary motives causes an individual not to perform wrongful acts. Tutelary

motives may be either standing or occasional. Standing tutelary motives may govern

an individual’s conduct in most situations, but occasional tutelary motives may

govern an individual’s conduct in only some situations. Bentham also argued that

the punishment of illegal offenses against society should be proportional to the

amount of harm which is caused by these offenses. Bentham further contends that

any form of punishment for violation civil or criminal laws should conform to the

principle of utility. Any punishment inflicted upon an offending individual have

sufficient ground in the infliction of pain upon an individual. The purpose of

punishing illegal offenses against society is not only to prevent similar or greater

offenses but to offer satisfaction to those who have been injured and to discipline

and reform the offender.

CONTRIBUTION TO POLITICS

The works of Bentham himself was his greatest contribution to our politics.

Through his works, he was able to establish ideas and principles that we are using

now as our basis of our politics. Through his work on the Introduction to Principles

of Morals and Legislation, he was able to establish a blueprint on how should our

government create or legislate laws and how to make corresponding consequences.

As for Bentham, it is important that the laws or rules generated will accord with the

utilitarian principle. The principle, admittedly, in nature, is demanding. Comes with

this is to assure that the general welfare should be the utmost priority. In a moral sense,

it is in our discretion to ensure that whatever decisions we make is for the common

good. Pleasure and the absence of pain is, ultimately, our reason on the actions we do.

An individual should act always so as to produce the greatest good for the greatest

number. In a political sense, it is very evident that his work greatly influenced our way

of legislation and judicial process. The laws that the government should legislate is for

the greater happiness of all; if not all, for the majority. And in the judicial process, the

weight of the consequences for those who violated the laws should conform to the

principle.

Bentham also developed the idea of Panopticon. Appalled by the inefficiency

and inhumane conditions in Britain’s penal regime, he developed the idea of

Panopticon penitentiary as a substitute penal system, in which convicted criminals

would be subject to a disciplinary regime based on the maxim “the more strictly we

are watched, the better we behave”. This principle has been true not only in prisons,

but also schools and work place. If such institutions are given much supervision, it

tends to act accordingly and efficiently. This idea was able to introduce a just
procedure for those who do not abide the laws established. Furthermore, it was able

to give an idea that for an institution to function well, it must be supervised or led by

one person. Generally, the principle and theory Bentham established was not put

into waste because it is still practiced or applied to our current political system.

References

Author (n.d.). Theory of legislation / by Jeremy Bentham ; translated from the

French of Etienne Dumont by R. Hildreth - Details. Retrieved from

https://trove.nla.gov.au/work/1729982

Ucl. (2018, May 17). An Introduction to the Principles of Morals and Legislation.

Retrieved from https://www.ucl.ac.uk/bentham-

project/publications/collected-works-jeremy-bentham/introduction-

principles-morals-and-legislation

Ucl. (2018, May 17). A Comment on the Commentaries and A Fragment on

Government. Retrieved from https://www.ucl.ac.uk/bentham-

project/publications/collected-works-jeremy-bentham/comment-

commentaries-and-fragment-government

(n.d.). Full text of "Books For College Libraries" - archive.org. Retrieved from

https://archive.org/stream/in.ernet.dli.2015.213749/2015.213749.Books-

For_djvu.txt