Utilitarian Philosophy and Politics: Bentham's Later Years

Description

Exploring the life, work and ideas of the great 19th century utilitarian philosopher Jeremy Bentham, this study takes a unique look at his intellectual project from the point of view of the development of his political thought and later reassessment of his own ideas. Placing Bentham's work in its historical and intellectual context, Utilitarian Philosophy and Politics considers in particular Bentham's utilitarianism in relation to his later engagement with political and constitutional reform. James Crimmins argues that, despite being one of the most argued over philosophers of the 19th century, Bentham remains one of the most misunderstood of political philosophers. By attempting to look again at the context in which Bentham was writing and his self-conscious concern with his own legacy, this book offers a new account of this major political thinker.

James E. Crimmins is Professor of Political Theory at Huron University College, The University of Western Ontario. His books include Secular Utilitarianism (Oxford, Clarendon, 1990), Utilitarians and Religion (Bristol, Thoemmes, 1998), On Bentham (Belmont, CA, Wadsworth, 2004), Utilitarian Philosophy and Politics (London and New York, Continuum, 2011), and with Catherine Fuller (ed.), Church-of-Englandism and its Catechism Examined, The Collected Works of Jeremy Bentham (Oxford, Clarendon, 2011). He is presently researching the dissemination and reception of utilitarian ideas in nineteenth-century America.