An Introduction to the Principles of Morals and Legislation, Vol. 1 of 2

by Jeremy Bentham

Excerpt from An Introduction to the Principles of Morals and Legislation, Vol. 1 of 2

The following sheets were, as the title-page ex presses, printed so long ago as the year 1780. The design, in pursuance of which they were written, was not so extensive as that announced by the present title They had at that time no other destination than that of serving as an introduction to a plan of a penal code in terminis, designed to follow them, in the same volume.

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Genres: Philosophy

313 pages, Hardcover

First published August 12, 2015

About the author

In 1748, Jeremy Bentham was born in London. The great philosopher, utilitarian humanitarian and atheist began learning Latin at age four. He earned his B.A. from Oxford by age 15 or 16, and his M.A. at 18. His Rationale of Punishments and Rewards was published in 1775, followed by his groundbreaking utilitarian work, Introduction to the Principles of Morals and Legislation. Bentham propounded his principle of "the greatest happiness of the greatest number." He worked for political, legal, prison and educational reform. Inheriting a large fortune from his father in 1792, Bentham was free to spend his remaining life promoting progressive causes. The renowned humanitarian was made a citizen of France by the National Assembly in Paris. In published and unpublished treatises, Bentham extensively critiqued religion, the catechism, the use of religious oaths and the bible. Using the pen-name Philip Beauchamp, he co-wrote a freethought treatise, Analysis of the Influence of Natural Religion on the Temporal Happiness of Mankind (1822). D. 1832.

More: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeremy_B...

http://www.iep.utm.edu/bentham/

http://www.ucl.ac.uk/Bentham-Project/who

http://www.econlib.org/library/Enc/bi...

http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Jeremy_B...

http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/...

http://utilitarianism.com/bentham.htm

http://www.historyguide.org/intellect...

Reviews

[Daniel Macgregor · Rating 4 out of 5]

This volume reminded me a lot of Thomas Hobbes' "leviathan" in the sense that both start from the smallest point possible in their agruments, and slowly to larger and larger units. However, Bentham goes much deeper, so much that his world building could put a lot of RPGs to shame. Be warned that this text can get extremely tedious very quickly, but if you are looking for a thoroughly unpacked analysis of actions and human interactions, you will not find a matter deep dive then the main groupings and sub-groupings Bentham throws together (I would recommend someone make some charts and info-graphics to provide a nice visual as some major points can get lost in the sea of texts).