Jeremy Bentham

Jeremy Bentham was a British philosopher and social thinker who lived from 1748 to 1832. A philosopher is a person who studies ideas about knowledge, rules, and how people think. Bentham focused on laws, government, and public systems. He believed that laws should be written clearly and applied in the same way to everyone.

Bentham was born in London, England. He showed strong skills in reading and writing at a young age. He studied law, which is a system of rules used by a country to control actions and solve disputes. Although he trained as a lawyer, Bentham spent most of his life writing rather than working in courts.

Bentham is best known for developing a theory called utilitarianism. This theory says that actions and laws should be judged by their effects on people. Bentham described this idea using simple terms. He wrote that laws should aim to produce happiness and reduce pain. In his writing, happiness meant pleasure, comfort, or well-being. Pain meant suffering or discomfort.

Bentham also wrote about how governments and public institutions should work. An institution is an organized system such as a prison, school, or court. He believed that systems should be designed carefully so that rules are clear and results can be measured. One of his famous ideas was the Panopticon. This was a design for a prison where guards could observe inmates from a central point. The idea focused on visibility and control, not punishment.

Bentham did not hold public office, but his ideas influenced lawmakers and thinkers. Many later writers studied his work on law reform. Law reform means changing laws to improve how they function. Bentham argued that old laws were often confusing and based on tradition rather than reason. He supported written legal codes that listed rules clearly.

Jeremy Bentham died in 1832. After his death, his body was preserved according to his instructions and placed on display at University College London. This preserved body is called an auto-icon, which means a person represented by their own body. Bentham’s writings continued to be read and discussed long after his lifetime.