Jerem Betham

JEREMY BENTHAM

A Summary of Biographical Information from the Internet

Born on February 15, 1748, in London, England, Jeremy Bentham was a legal

scholar, social reformer and considered one of the founding fathers of Utilitarianism.

He was educated at Westminster School, Queen's College at Oxford, and Lincoln's Inn

(one of four Inns of Court that call to the bar) for his law degree. Bentham became a

lawyer like his father and grandfather but instead of practicing law, he became a critical

writer of the law and "established political doctrines like natural law and

contractarianism".

"In 1776 Bentham wrote his first published work (but not well received) titled A

Fragment on Government. In 1785, while visiting his brother in Russia, Bentham created

a model prison (that was never adopted even after 20 years of trying) called "Panopticon"

where the inmates are guarded by guards that they (the inmates) cannot see. In 1789,

after his visit in Russia, he wrote his most famous work titled Introduction to the

Principles of Morals and Legislation." In this book, he expounds on moral philosophy

and the principle of utility or the "greatest happiness of the greatest

number", and his belief that pleasure and pain motivates man.

Although he is falsely credited with founding the University College of London,

his body, however, is preserved there in a wooden cabinet called an "Auto Icon" with a

wax head atop his dressed skeleton. Bentham