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Jeremy Bentham ( February 15, 1748– June 6, 1832) was an English gentleman, jurist, philosopher, eccentric, and legal and social reformer. He is best known as the founder of utilitarianism.1 The life of Jeremy Bentham
Born in Spitalfields, London into a wealthy Tory family, Bentham was recognised as a child prodigy when discovered as a toddler sitting at his father's desk reading a multi-volume history of England. He studied Latin from the age of three.
He went to Westminster SchoolWestminster School (in full, The Royal College of St. Peter at Westminster but almost always referred to as Westminster School or even just Westminster for short) is an ancient English public school, located by Westminster Abbey in Westminster, in central, and in 1760Events January 9 Afghans defeat Marathas in Battle of Barari Ghat. March 20 The "Great Fire" of Boston destroys 349 buildings. June 4 Great Upheaval: New England planters arrive to claim land in Nova Scotia Canada taken from the Acadians. July 8 French an his father sent him to Queen's College, Oxford, where he took his Bachelor's degree in 1763Events February 10 French and Indian War: The 1763 Treaty of Paris ends the war and France cedes Canada to Great Britain. 15 February the Treaty of Hubertusburg puts an end to the Seven Years' War between Prussia and Austria and their allies March 1 Charl and his Master's degree in 1766Events January 1 Bonnie Prince Charlie becomes the new Stuart claimant to the throne of Great Britain as King Charles III and figurehead for Jacobitism. March 5 Antonio de Ulloa, the first Spanish governor of Louisiana, arrives in New Orleans. March 18 Am. Bentham trained as a lawyer and was called to the bar in 1769Events Baron Wolfgang von Kempelen exhibits the " Mechanical Turk", a chess-playing machine May 14 Charles III of Spain sends Spanish missionaries, who found California missions in San Diego, Santa Barbara, San Francisco and Monterey and begin the settlem. A prosperous attorney, his father had decided that Bentham would follow him into the law, and felt quite sure that his brilliant son would one day be Lord ChancellorThe Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain or Lord Chancellor and in former times Chancellor of England is one of the most senior and important functionaries in the government of the United Kingdom. He is a Great Officer of State, and is appointed by the S of England.
Soon, however, Bentham became disillusioned with the law, especially after hearing the lectures of the leading authority of the day, Sir William Blackstone. Deeply frustrated with the complexity of the English legal code, which he termed the "Demon of Chicane", he decided, instead of practising the law, to write about it, and he spent his life criticising the existing law and suggesting ways for its improvement. His father's death in 1792 left him financially independent, allowing him to set himself up as a writer in Westminster. For nearly forty years he lived there quietly, producing between ten and twenty sheets of manuscript a day, even when he was in his eighties. Among his many proposals for legal and social reform was a design for a prison building he called the Panopticon. Although it was never built, the idea had an important influence in later generations of thinkers and influenced the radial design of Pentonville Prison as well as several other prisons.
Bentham is frequently associated with the foundation of the University of London, which was later to become University College London, though this is not actually true. Bentham was eighty years old when the University opened in 1828, and had no part in its establishment. However, Bentham strongly believed that education should be more widely available, particularly to those who were not wealthy or who did not belong to the established church, both of which were required by the traditional universities at Oxford and Cambridge. As University College London was the first English university to admit all, regardless of race, creed or political belief, it was largely consistent with Bentham's vision, and he oversaw the appointment of one of his pupils, John Austin, as the first Professor of Jurisprudence in 1829.
After death, Bentham's body was (as requested in his will) preserved and stored in a wooden cabinet, termed his "Auto-Icon", at University College London. It has occasionally been brought out of storage at official functions so that the eccentric presence of Bentham would live on. The Auto-Icon has always had a wax head, as Bentham's head was badly damaged in the preservation process. The real head was displayed in the same case for many years, but became the target of repeated student pranks, being stolen on more than one occasion, and is now locked away securely.
