Liberalism · Character

Jeremy Bentham

The utilitarian lawgiver whose sober calculus of pains and pleasures gave early liberalism its first principles — and its most stubborn inheritance.

supporting

Also known as Bentham

First appearance: ii the elements of liberalism

As a supporting figure in Liberalism, Jeremy Bentham is not background color—the story leans on what they do once the chapter opens.

Introduced as the elaborator of the greatest happiness principle, who was critical of the theory of natural rights.

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Bentham supplies the intellectual bedrock that Hobhouse's liberals are raised on, the 'pure milk of the Benthamite word' that shapes James Mill and lingers in his son. His legacy is a tension: a doctrine that cannot appeal to individual rights against public welfare, yet must somehow ground them in the permanent conditions of social health. He matters because the whole book is an argument about what can be salvaged from his inheritance once experience complicates it.

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See Jeremy Bentham in ii the elements of liberalism

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Foundations of Liberalism

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Story tension across the book — this chapter sits in Exposition.

Setup
Escalation
Breaking point
Aftermath
Closing

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In the story

Jeremy Bentham appears across 5 companion beats. Open any chapter in the free preview to see the notes beside the text.

The Movement of Theory
Introduced as the elaborator of the greatest happiness principle, who was critical of the theory of natural rights.
IV: Laissez-Faire
Mentioned as sharing the practical attitude of the Cobden school, though the school is more saturated with the conviction of individual action as the mainspring of progress.
V: Gladstone and Mill
Bentham is mentioned as the source of the utilitarian tradition in which John Stuart Mill was raised, though Mill's later work evolved beyond strict Benthamism.
The Future of Liberalism
Referenced in the dismissal of the Benthamite argument for popular government as unsatisfactory.
Endnotes
Referenced in the context of the Manchester School and Philosophical Radicals, as a disciple of Adam Smith.

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See Jeremy Bentham in ii the elements of liberalism

See Jeremy Bentham in The Movement of Theory