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Life
The reformer who reduced morality to a single arithmetic — the greatest happiness of the greatest number — and tried to redesign every institution by it.
He was raised as a philosophical experiment, had a breakdown at twenty, worked his way out through poetry, and spent the rest of his life refining the case for liberty.
Connection
Jeremy Bentham reformed utilitarianism John Stuart Mill — Mill grew up under Bentham's direct influence via his father. He kept utilitarianism but refined its crude pleasure-calculus, distinguishing higher from lower pleasures and defending individual liberty against the tyranny of the majority.
Ideas
Words
“It is the greatest happiness of the greatest number that is the measure of right and wrong.”
“The only freedom which deserves the name is that of pursuing our own good in our own way, so long as we do not attempt to deprive others of theirs.”
“It is better to be Socrates dissatisfied than a fool satisfied.”
Key Moments
1748 CE
Born in London
1789 CE
Principles of Morals and Legislation
1791 CE
The Panopticon
1832 CE
Death in London
c. 1826–30
Mental crisis and recovery through poetry
1859
On Liberty published
1865–68
Elected MP for Westminster
Works
An Introduction to the Principles of Morals and Legislation
On Liberty