Jeremy Bentham

British philosopher. Known as the founder of utilitarianism. Born in London, he studied at Westminster College and Oxford University. Not satisfied with his job as a barrister, he became familiar with the works of British thinkers after Locke and the French Enlightenment, and from an early age he pondered the universal principle of reconciling selfishness and the spirit of charity. He had an epiphany after reading the third volume of Hume's Treatise of Human Nature, and arrived at the principle of utilitarianism, whose motto is "the greatest happiness of the greatest number," as seen in Hutcheson and others. In other words, he took a teleological stance that the obligation of an action and the judgment of right or wrong are based on its utility to the good of the whole of society, and furthermore, he identified good with pleasure or happiness, and advocated hedonism, which claims that pleasure can be measured by seven standards. He made an effort to reform British law based on the principle of utility, and later approached radicalism in politics. His major works include "Fragments on Government" (1776) and "An Introduction to the Principles of Morals and Legislation" (1789).

[Takahide Tsunoshita July 21, 2015]

"A Study of Bentham's Utilitarian Theory" by Takao Yamada (1960, Daimeido)

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

イギリスの哲学者。功利主義の創始者として著名。ロンドンに生まれ、ウェストミンスター校、オックスフォード大学に学ぶ。法廷弁護士の職に飽き足らず、ロック以降のイギリス思想家やフランス啓蒙(けいもう)家の著作に親しみ、早くから利己心と慈愛の精神とを一致させる普遍的原理に思いを巡らす。ヒュームの『人性論』第3巻を読了して開眼、ハチソンらにみられた「最大多数の最大幸福」をモットーとする功利主義の原理に到達する。すなわち、行動の義務や正邪の判定は、社会全体の善への効用utilityにあるという目的論の立場をとり、しかも、善を快楽または幸福と同一視し、快楽が七つの基準によって計量可能とする快楽計算を主張して量的快楽主義を唱えたのが特色である。彼は功利の原理により英国法の改正に努力し、政治的にはのちに急進主義に接近した。主著に『政府論断章』（1776）、『道徳と立法の原理序説』（1789）など。

［杖下隆英　2015年7月21日］

『山田孝雄著『ベンサム功利説の研究』（1960・大明堂）』

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