Значение слова BENTHAM в Литературной энциклопедии

JEREMY (1748-1832).-Writer on jurisprudence and politics, _b._ in London, _s._ of a prosperous attorney, _ed._ at Westminster and Oxford, was called to the Bar at Lincoln's Inn, but disliking the law, he made little or no effort to practise, but devoted himself to physical science and the theory of jurisprudence. In 1776 he _pub._ anonymously his _Fragment on Government_, an able criticism of Blackstone's _Commentaries_, which brought him under the notice of Lord Shelburne, and in 1780 his _Introduction to Principles of Morals and Legislation_. Other works were _Panopticon_, in which he suggested improvements on prison discipline, _Discourse on Civil and Penal Legislation_ (1802), _Punishments and Rewards_ (1811), _Parliamentary Reform Catechism_ (1817), and _A Treatise on Judicial Evidence_. By the death of his _f._ he inherited a competency on which he was able to live in frugal elegance, not unmixed with eccentricity. B. is the first and perhaps the greatest of the "philosophical radicals," and his fundamental principle is utilitarianism or "the greatest happiness of the greatest number," a phrase of which he is generally, though erroneously, regarded as the author. The effect of his writings on legislation and the administration of the law has been almost incalculable. He left his body to be dissected; and his skeleton, clothed in his usual attire, is preserved in University College, London. _Life_ by Bowring in collected works (J.H. Barton, 11 vols., 1844). _Study of Life and Work_, Atkinson, 1903.