According to Bentham's utilitarian mode of reasoning, the legitimacy of an intervention was not to be valued on the grounds of the underlying intentions or the means employed, but rather in light of its (expected) consequences. What at first would seem as incoherent, arbitrary or ambivalent attitudes towards intervention were in fact consistent with his situational and pragmatic mode of reasoning. Rather than a disjuncture between ideal theory and practical reasoning, his positions on intervention reflected the inevitably local nature of (...) his principled 'moral casuistry', characterised by the attempt to reconcile self-regarding interests with extra-regarding interests. The key to this move resided in Bentham's concept of 'effective benevolence'. The 'business of the Deontologist' - and the essence of his principled moral casuistry - was that of exposing the dictates of 'effective benevolence' wherever possible, and Bentham himself took up this challenge in his writings on Tripoli and... (shrink)

Ce volume collectif accompagne, à quelques mois d’intervalle, la publication de l’édition critique des textes consacrés par Bentham à l’Australie (_Panopticon versus New South Wales and other writings on Australia_) chez UCL Press sous la direction de Tim Causer et Philip Schofield. Les versions numériques des deux ouvrages sont disponibles en accès ouvert sur le site de l’éditeur. Bentham consacre un premier essai au système pénal en Australie en 1791, à peine six ans après le début des déportations de prisonniers (...) vers la nouvelle colonie carcérale. Il s’oppose sans relâche à cette politique et tente de démontrer que son propre projet de prison panoptique est à la fois plus efficace et moins coûteux pour punir les criminels et conduire à leur réforme. En 1801, au moment où le ministère rejette définitivement la construction du panoptique près de Londres, Bentham érige les colonies australiennes en symboles de la corruption de la constitution et de la malhonnêteté des membres du gouve... (shrink)

_Le langage de la morale_ est la traduction d’un livre écrit en 1952 sous le titre _The Language of Morals_ ; sous ce titre en anglais, il précède d’une trentaine d’années _Moral Thinking_ (1981), tandis que sous le titre français et traduit par Jean-Baptiste Le Bohec et Frédéric Naudin, il suit de deux ans _Penser en morale_, traduit récemment pour les éditions Hermann (en 2021) par Claire Wrobel, Malik Bozzo-Rey et moi-même (qui l’ai aussi préfacé). Hare est au début de (...) sa carrière quand il rédige _Le langage de la morale_ et il semble que, s’il n’est ni kantien, ni anti-kantien, il procède néanmoins par un réexamen de nombreuses catégories sans lesquelles il ne saurait être question de faire de l’éthique : le devoir, les impératifs, la distinction du prescriptif et du descriptif, de la description et de l’évaluation, le « bon », le « juste » et quelques autres encore, qui constituent le vocabulaire fondamental de l’éthique. De plus, Hare nous apprend à être attentifs à la grammaire, aux pe... (shrink)

This text is a set of reflections about a book that had been translated in French, published of late and that collected an article and a book of ethics written by J. Harsanyi. Harsanyi’s aim was to understand and make understood the ethical considerations implied or supposed by game theory; whether its authors were aware of that or not. He does it by the means of a bundle of theses, the ones included in Kant’s works -provided they were criticized enough-, (...) the others in Smith’s works and others again in Bayes, whose way of practicing mathematics is clearly perceived by Harsanyi as linked to an explicitly utilitarian philosophy, but the affinity of which we have recognized as having acquaintance with some considerations of Montaigne in his _ Essays _. So, our own aim was to place Harsinyi’s work in a longer tradition than the Kantian and English-speaking ones as Harsanyi probably believed and suggested to have believed it sufficient with regard to the exclusivity of his references. This c... (shrink)

In her influential book of _ A Turn to Empire _, J. Pitts argues that Bentham’s project was very different from later British liberal aspiration to civilize the backward countries. On the other hand, Pitts appears to struggle how to treat Bentham’s such description, for instance, of Islamic countries as a region of incurable barbarity and ignorance. I would like to argue that there was no such contradiction as suggested by Pitts in Bentham’s theory. I will firstly (in section 2) (...) discuss Bentham’s 'Place and Time,' and show that, unlike Pitt’s interpretation, Bentham tried to change the religions, traditions and customs of non-Western countries, which are at odds with his principle of utility. However, this was based on Bentham’s conception of universal human nature. In section 3, I will examine Bentham’s enterprise of universal jurisprudence to elucidate Bentham’s conception of the universal human nature. I will then discuss that Bentham consistently tried to disseminate this conception... (shrink)

More attention needs to be given to Adam Smith's view of South America. Although scholars have elucidated Smith's view of colonization, these studies have not fully clarified how Smith was influenced by the depiction of societies in South America from travel books. Though he read travel books on South America, Smith does not necessarily follow their original description of the societies found there. Instead, he sometimes distorted the original in consideration of the effects of colonization. To evaluate the impact of (...) colonization, he supposed that societies in South America were not civilized, so colonized societies could be seen as part of the process of civilization. However, he did not belittle precolonial societies. He emphasized the moral quality of the so-called savage people. As I argue in this paper, he had at least two criteria in evaluating society. In addition to economic development, Smith also recognized moral degradation as part of social development. Smith evaluated s... (shrink)

The article aims to show the value of taking ecclesiology – the theology of the church – into account in the study of British imperial ideology by describing how Anglican intra-ecclesiological debates shaped mid-nineteenth-century discourse about the British Empire. It highlights the impact of the Oxford Movement on the mind of the British colonial administrator Sir Frederic Rogers, Lord Blachford (1811-1889), by revealing the connections between his imperial thought and concepts arising from Tractarian ecclesiology. In particular, it argues that Rogers’ (...) understanding of British colonial development builds on Tractarian ideas of balance and consistency. By retaining a sense of the importance of the historic connection with the colonies of settlement while respecting their right to be free, Rogers constituted the imperial relationship as a _ via media. _. (shrink)

The most famous chapter of Montesquieu’s _ The Spirit of the Laws _ (1748), Book XI, Chapter 6, 'On the constitution of England,' was an important i nspiration to the creators of modern constitutions, to which they often referred. However, as a result of scholarly focus on the political institutions discussed in this book, Montesquieu’s economic analysis has been woefully neglected. In order to correct this scholarly imbalance, this paper will elucidate the essential significance of Montesquieu’s comparison between the constitution (...) of modern England and that of ancient Rome in Book XI of _ The Spirit of the Laws _ ; inextricable relationship between military and political institutions on the one hand, and the transfer and distribution of wealth on the other. To argue this point, this paper will focus on Montesquieu’s other writings in the same year and shortly after the publication of _ The Spirit of the Laws _ : the revised edition in 1748 of _ The Considerations on the Causes of the Greatness of t... _. (shrink)

Adam Ferguson (1723-1816) was a leading member of the Scottish Enlightenment. He is often considered to be more sceptical about commercial modernity than his friend Adam Smith. This paper examines Ferguson’s views on trade and empire with particular reference to the British North American Empire. By contrasting Ferguson’s analysis with that of Smith, it shows that, while Smith’s discussion sees an economic analysis drive his political recommendations, in the case of Adam Ferguson a political analysis predominates over economic concerns in (...) his view on the dispute with the American colonists. (shrink)

This special issue of the _ Revue d’études benthamiennes _, entitled the 'International and Colonial Thought of the British Empire', aims to broaden recent debates on global intellectual history and imperial history. While this subject has been extensively studied in current scholarship, the issue attempts to approach several relatively under-examined figures, including Adam Ferguson, Josiah Tucker, and Frederic Rogers, as well as classical thinkers such as Jeremy Bentham and Adam Smith, from new perspectives. In this Introduction, we describe a pan-European (...) intellectual setting wherein these thinkers’ international and imperial thought should partly be situated, with a focus on the idea of international law, cosmopolitanism, and colonialism. (shrink)

Smith’s critique of empire has recently attracted scholarly attention, but it has mostly been from the perspective of justice. The present article, however, argues that his views on it could also be appreciated by his 'utilitarian' attitude toward it. Combined with a similar line of analysis of Josiah Tucker, another key (though neglected) figure, the authors hope to add to the current trends of scholarship on the Enlightenment critique of empire. Neither Smith nor Tucker appealed merely to political right principles, (...) but rather frequently explored imperial problems from 'utilitarian' viewpoints. A difference between Smith and Tucker derives from the latter's explicit appeal to Christian, or Protestant, ethics, by which Tucker was in a way associated not only with his mentor, Joseph Butler, but also with some of his adversaries, such as Richard Price and Joseph Priestley. The non-welfarist or non-consequentialist concept of justice was a significant element in the Enlightenment crit... (shrink)

Ma première rencontre avec David Lieberman date de 2014. A l’initiative de mon co-directeur de thèse Malik Bozzo-Rey, David Lieberman avait été invité à participer à mon comité de suivi de thèse. Il avait lu les quelques pages présentant les avancées de mes recherches et sa participation à ce comité comme ses commentaires avaient été très soutenant et généreux. La suite de ma recherche doctorale a largement été nourrie par ses travaux et n’ont pas cessé de l’être depuis. La grande (...) force et l'originalité de David a été l'inflexion qu'il a porté à la division entre ce qui relève de la philosophie politique et de la philosophie du droit chez Bentham. Il développe une interprétation ‘politique’ de la philosophie de Bentham en se concentrant sur l’idéal de codification et il voit dans ce thème et cet objet ce qui orchestre la continuité des écrits de Bentham des années 1780 à ceux de 1832. Avec cette interprétation, David Lieberman marquait ses distances avec la lecture si importante de... (shrink)

Le nouvel et dernier ouvrage de Jean-Pierre Cléro consacre à la philosophie de Jeremy Bentham est intéressant à plus d’un titre. Tout d’abord, il unifie et bénéficie de l’ensemble des textes et réflexions que Jean-Pierre Cléro a pu élaborer depuis de nombreuses années sur les différents aspects de la philosophie benthamienne. Ensuite, il débute habilement par une relecture particulièrement vive et intéressante de la vie de Bentham. Loin de se contenter de la classique biographie, Jean-Pierre Cléro propose une relecture des (...) différents évènements qui, selon lui, ont structuré la vie de Bentham tout en délivrant des clés qui permettront de mieux comprendre l’évolution de sa pensée. Sans sombrer dans la facilité d’une « psychologisation biographique », il s’agit bien plutôt de comprendre l’auteur à travers des éléments marquants de sa vie. A ce titre, les phrases d’ouverture et de clôture de cette partie biographique sont particulièrement éclairantes et intéressantes quant aux possibili... (shrink)

As a graduate student, years before I met David Lieberman, I had read _ The Province of Legislation Determined. _ I was immediately taken by the breath of his knowledge and the lack of affectation of his style. These qualities struck me again when I met him in person at several ISUS conferences, including the one he hosted so wonderfully in UC Berkeley in 2008. Generosity is a rare quality in academia. David’s friendship and the interest he displayed in the (...) work of others gave me confidence, as I know it did for many younger scholars. From the seminal distinction he introduced between the ‘historical Bentham’ and the ‘authenticity Bentham’ to his stimulating re-reading of Bentham’s later constitutional theory, his articles were always illuminating and challenging. (shrink)

This article considers how John Stuart Mill's relationship with philosophical necessitarianism, or the idea that character is formed by external circumstances, came to pervade his later thought, and was central to his eventual presentation of the famous theory of liberty outlined in _ On Liberty _, for which he remains best known today. My main argument here extends Bernard Semmel's suggestion that "The conflict between philosophical liberty and necessity, between free will and determinism, was critical to the argument of _ (...) On _ _ Liberty _, in keeping with the central role it played in Mill's thought", by providing a more extended discussion of the Owenite background in particular. Contrary to the disingenuous disclaimer Mill offers initially in _ On Liberty _, the doctrine of free will is actually central to his case for individuality, and to his defence of social liberty. This was in turn the outcome of a process of deliberation about these issues which had been ongoing since 1826. My concern he... (shrink)

This article examines the work of the nineteenth-century legal theorist, philosopher, and political radical, Joseph Rey (1799-1855). It explores Rey’s serious engagement with Benthamite utilitarianism, philosophical radicalism, and Owenism. It examines how Rey radically re-theorised the principle of utility by fundamentally re-thinking the individual and her creative potentialities, situating both within a radically egalitarian system of co-operation that was inspired both by Owenism and the radical egalitarianism of the democratic communism of the 1790s. Rey’s long-neglected fusion of utility and equality (...) represented a thoroughgoing and novel transformation of utilitarianism that far surpassed in its originality J.S. Mill’s reworking of the doctrine. (shrink)

An in-depth reform of the asylum system took place in Great Britain from the 1830s onwards, under the influence of Dr John Conolly, who succeeded in imposing a new model at Hanwell pauper lunatic asylum, near London, a model that was more respectful of the patients and based on the abandonment of mechanical restraint (non-restraint) combined with occupational therapy. The success of this system at Hanwell, the largest asylum in the country with over a thousand inmates, contributed to the spread (...) of what became a form of psychiatric orthodoxy for the next thirty years. Far from being a strictly medical measure, this reform was anchored in a general reform of poor relief. In this respect, it was in line with the Poor Law of 1834 (inspired by Jeremy Bentham, notably under the aegis of Edwin Chadwick, secretary of the Poor Law Commission). This reform was also part of a more political reflection on the extension of civil and social rights for the working classes, in particular under the... (shrink)

Une pensée qui voyage. Voici ce que donne à voir Guillaume Tusseau, théoricien du droit devenu comparatiste sans avoir jamais quitté les rives de la théorie, dans ce petit ouvrage en français, dense et stimulant, publié au Canada. L’avant-propos retrace les expériences de recherche mais aussi les contrées par lesquelles cette réflexion est passée pour se livrer enfin sous la forme modestement désignée de « Notes sur quelques allers-retours aporétiques » entre le droit comparé et la théorie générale du droit. (...) Plaçant ainsi sa réflexion sous le signe de la légèreté, Guillaume Tusseau désamorce l’appréhension que peut susciter un tel programme associant droit comparé et théorie générale du droit ; rien de moins. Inspiré par un colloque de 2016, organisé à La Rochelle par Isabelle Boucobza aujourd’hui professeure à l’Université Paris Nanterre, intitulé « Le droit comparé : de la périphérie au centre? », l’auteur a depuis cheminé, chargé de cette recherche initiale, de Paris à Bogotá, pu... (shrink)

In the “Principles of the Civil Code,” Jeremy Bentham identifies four “principles subsidiary to utility”: subsistence, abundance, equality, and security. Whereas these subsidiary principles form part of the bedrock of classical liberalism, in this essay I show that in the hands of his friend and disciple William Thompson, they are transformed into the foundations for socialism. Where Bentham prioritizes security over equality, and security of property takes a preeminent role, Thompson shows that the system of individual competition and private property—his (...) way of describing capitalism—is best characterized by the “inequality of security.” Based on the labor theory of property, Thompson argues that the system that assigns ownership to the providers of capital violates the workers’ security—the right to have the full produce of their labor secured to them. Thompson then reconciles security and equality, understanding them as mutually constitutive instead of in conflict. From his work... (shrink)

Call for Paper The 2014 publication of three of Jeremy Bentham’s extensive manuscript papers on sexual nonconformity as _ Of Sexual Irregularity and Other Writings on Sexual Morality _ has inspired a wide range of new scholarship on the relationship between utilitarianism and queer theory and history. Bentham’s sexual nonconformity papers demonstrate that the experiences of pleasure and pain are individual to each person, and thus, "the greatest happiness of the greatest number" necessitates the maximal toleration of as many experiences (...) of happiness as there are persons, rather than a normative or hierarchical delineation of acceptable forms of happiness. Bentham asserts that differences in sexuality and gender must be accounted for in epistemology, law, moral philosophy, aesthetics, and theology, and addresses these differences in the context of oppression on the basis of race, gender, class, religious dissent, disability, and animal species. In the context of Bentham’s sexual nonconfor... (shrink)

This special issue of the _ Revue d’études benthamiennes _ aims to examine the transmission and reception of utilitarian thought among various socialist movements in the nineteenth century, to shed light on their emergence, uses and legacy. By focusing on the originality and variety of these socialist reinterpretations, it builds upon renewed approaches in intellectual and political history that have successfully challenged the classical distinction between “utopian” and “scientific” socialism. Consequently, this issue brings a corrective to the tendency, on the (...) part of established scholarship, to confine Bentham’s influence to classical liberalism. Though the contributions to this issue focus on three European countries (Britain, Ireland and France), it is hoped that they will provide a first step towards a more general, joint history of the relation between utilitarianism and socialism. (shrink)

At the end of the 19 th century, in an effort to reform the economic and social organisation along socialist lines, the first Fabians had to reflect on morality and the place of the individual in society. They derived their ideals and theories from various political and intellectual traditions, among which popular and liberal radicalism, Darwinism and ethical positivism. As for the utilitarian influence on the first Fabians, it is controversial. Though the Fabians admired the reformist endeavour of Bentham and (...) his disciples, they openly rejected Utilitarianism. For them, it was a theory of the past that justified individualism. However, a study of the _ Fabian Essays in Socialism _ (1889) as well as other essays published by the seven essayists (Annie Besant, Hubert Bland, William Clarke, Sydney Olivier, George Bernard Shaw, Graham Wallas and Sidney Webb) shows that the Fabians reshaped some utilitarian principles to suit their objectives. They engaged with the utilitarian tradition, whi... (shrink)