Page 178 - DPOL201_WESTERN_POLITICAL_THOUGHT_ENGLISH

Western Political Thought

Notes • In the 1820s, Bentham provided a new approach to constitutional theory, which advanced
the precepts and absorbed the criticisms of the great period of constitutional thought and
practice around the time of the American and French Revolutions. He gave to this existing
theory not only a new foundation, but also a new emphasis on administrative and judicial
organization with regard to responsible exercise of power. By conceiving the ends of legislation
to include security, subsistence, abundance and equality, and by envisaging political structures
to advance these ends, Bentham could foresee the needs and aspirations of the modern
democratic state (Miller 1987: 39-40).
• The thrust of Benthamite Utilitarianism was on relieving pain and providing security, on
insisting that the pleasures of all individuals deserved equal respect and consideration, and
that they should not be interfered with unless it interfered in the pleasure of others. It was
true that he did not delve into the spiritual or intellectual dimensions of the individual’s
pursuit of pleasure, but that shortcoming, if it was one, was made up by J.S. Mill, who
offered a conception of liberty that was spiritually and intellectually satisfying to the
individual. Mill revised and improvised Benthamite Utilitarianism, but
• Bentham is truly the founding father. As anyone who has written on Mill knows, he cannot
be understood except in terms of Bentham— and not only genetically, formatively, but at
every point and turning of his life and thought. Mill may have refined, corrected, amplified,
even transcended Bentham; but it is only by reference to Bentham that we can appreciate
what he tried to do, what he did do, and what, perhaps he finally failed to do.

9.9 Key-Words

1. Unflinching : Not showing fear or hesitation in the face of danger or difficulty-unflinching
determination
2. Contraptions : A mechanical device
3. Panopticon : The panopticon was proposed as a model prison by Jeremy Bentham, a
Utilitarian Philosopher and Theorist of British legal reform.
4. Connotation : The suggesting of a meaning by a word apart from the thing it explicitly
names or describes.

9.10 Review Questions

1. Critically examine the Jeremy Bentham’s Utilitarian principle.
2. Describe the Bentham political philosophy.
3. Briefly describe Bentham’s theory of state.
4. What is the view of Bentham on women and gender equality.
Answers: Self-Assessment
1. (i) 2. (ii) 3. (iii) 4. (iv)

9.11 Further Readings

1. Mukherjee, S. and Ramaswamy, S. 2004: A History of Political Thought, PHI
Learning Pvt. Ltd.
2. Mukhopadhyay, A.K. 1990 Western Political Thought, Calcutta - KP Bagchi and
Company.

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