Jeremy Bentham
Jeremy Bentham
Jeremy Benthamwas an English philosopher, jurist, and social reformer. He is regarded as the founder of modern utilitarianism...
NationalityEnglish
ProfessionPhilosopher
Date of Birth15 February 1748
cutting idols might
An absolute and unlimited right over any object of property would be the right to commit nearly every crime.If Ihad sucha right over thestick Iamaboutto cut, I might employ it as a mace to knock down the passengers, or I might convert it into a sceptre as an emblem of royalty, or into an idol to offend the national religion.
against armed full military soldier teaching trust
The schoolmaster is abroad! And I trust to him armed with his primer against the soldier in full military array.
english-philosopher fair good incentives industry needs power solar stable ten
The solar industry needs stable markets. With fair and good incentives we can have solar power competitive in ten year's time.
english-philosopher question
The question is not, "Can they reason?" nor, "Can they talk?" but rather, "Can they suffer?
english-philosopher measure results
As to the evil which results from a censorship, it is impossible to measure it, for it is impossible to tell where it ends.
english-philosopher foundation happiness number
The greatest happiness of the greatest number is the foundation of morals and legislation.
alone determine governance mankind nature ought placed point shall sovereign
Nature has placed mankind under the governance of two sovereign masters, pain and pleasure. It is for them alone to point out what we ought to do, as well as to determine what we shall do.
english-philosopher good number people
It is the greatest good to the greatest number of people which is the measure of right and wrong.
We are not constrained by capital, but by opportunities as we grow,
happiness numbers sacred
Priestly was the first (unless it was Becarria) who taught my lips to pronounce this sacred truth--that the greatest happiness of the greatest number is the foundation of morals and legislation.
would-be difficulty wiser
Those physical difficulties which you cannot account for, be very slow to arraign; for he that would be wiser than Nature would be wiser than God.
simple rights nonsense
Natural rights is simple nonsense: natural and imprescriptible rights, rhetorical nonsense—nonsense upon stilts.
law judging england
The law of England has established trial by judge and jury in the conviction that it is the mode best calculated to ascertain the truth.
fall yield mind
Kind words cost no more than unkind ones . . . and we may scatter the seeds of courtesy and kindliness around us at so little expense. If you would fall into any extreme let it be on the side of gentleness. The human mind is so constructed that it resists vigor and yields to softness.