Jeremy Bentham (1748—1832)

Abstract

Jeremy Bentham was an English philosopher and political radical known for his moral philosophy of utilitarianism. Bentham was influenced by empiricists such as John Locke and David Hume and developed an ethical theory grounded in a largely empiricist account of human nature. He held a hedonistic account of both motivation and value, stating that fundamentally, pleasure and pain determine what is valuable and what motivates us, with happiness being a matter of experiencing pleasure and lack of pain. Bentham also wrote extensively about philosophy of law, critiquing the existing law and strongly advocating legal reform. Later, his ideas were carried on by followers such as John Stuart Mill. – AI-generated abstract.