Jeremy Bentham

Paper Summary:

Jeremy Bentham, popular English jurist, philosopher and legal and social reformer, was born on February 15, 1748 to a wealthy Tory family. This paper summarizes the life and works of Jeremy Bentham, including his panopticon design for prisons, his theory of utilitarianism, "Writings of the Poor Laws" and his proposal of industry houses.

From the Paper:

"There were three obligations that Bentham laid out to the British government to attain Utilitarianism. The first was to provide the poor with enough to survive. This included giving them food, providing clothing and providing security for their livestock and other belongings. The second obligation was to encourage abundance, both wealth and of population. Bentham knew that the larger the population the wealth per capita would drop, but he also knew that you needed a large population for defense. The third and final obligation was equality of means. Bentham wanted taxation to be distributed differently but it must be done carefully or it could possibly decrease the general abundance of the population."

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