Editing Jeremy Bentham (section)

== Biography ==

=== Early life ===
[[File:Jeremy Bentham by Thomas Frye.jpg|thumb|Portrait of Bentham by the studio of [[Thomas Frye]], 1760–1762]]
Bentham was born on 4 February [[Dual dating|1747/8]] [[Old Style and New Style dates|O.S.]] [15 February 1748 [[Old Style and New Style dates|N.S.]]] in [[Houndsditch]], [[London]],<ref name="ODNB"/> to attorney Jeremiah Bentham and Alicia Woodward, widow of a Mr Whitehorne and daughter of [[mercer (occupation)|mercer]] Thomas Grove, of Andover.<ref>{{cite ODNB | url=https://www.oxforddnb.com/display/10.1093/ref:odnb/9780198614128.001.0001/odnb-9780198614128-e-2153 | doi=10.1093/ref:odnb/2153 | title=The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography | year=2004 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=http://collections.westminster.org.uk/index.php/bentham-jeremy-1748-1832 | title=Bentham, Jeremy, 1748–1832 – Westminster School's Archive & Collections }}</ref> His wealthy family were supporters of the [[Tory party]]. He was reportedly a child prodigy: he was found as a toddler sitting at his father's desk reading a multi-volume history of England, and he began to study [[Latin]] at the age of three.<ref name="ucl.ac.uk" /> He learnt to play the [[violin]], and at the age of seven Bentham would perform [[sonata]]s by [[Handel]] during dinner parties.{{sfn|Everett|1969|p={{page needed|date=August 2023}}}} He had one surviving sibling, [[Samuel Bentham]] (1757–1831), with whom he was close.

He attended [[Westminster School]]; in 1760, at age 12, his father sent him to [[The Queen's College, Oxford]], where he completed his bachelor's degree in 1764, receiving the title of [[Master of Arts (Oxford, Cambridge, and Dublin)|MA]] in 1767.<ref name="ODNB"/> He trained as a lawyer and, though he never practised, was called to the [[Bar (law)|bar]] in 1769. He became deeply frustrated with the complexity of English law, which he termed the "Demon of Chicane".{{Sfn |Stephen |2011 |pages=174–175}} When the American colonies published their [[United States Declaration of Independence|Declaration of Independence]] in July 1776, the British government did not issue any official response but instead secretly commissioned London lawyer and pamphleteer [[John Lind (barrister)|John Lind]] to publish a rebuttal.{{sfn|Dupont |Onuf|2008|pp=32–33}} His 130-page tract was distributed in the colonies and contained an essay titled "Short Review of the Declaration" written by Bentham, a friend of Lind, which attacked and mocked the Americans' [[political philosophy]].{{sfn|Armitage|2007|p=}}{{sfn|Anonymous|1776|p=3}}

=== Abortive prison project and the Panopticon ===
In 1786 and 1787, Bentham travelled to [[Krychaw|Krichev]] in White Russia (modern [[Belarus]]) to visit his brother, [[Samuel Bentham|Samuel]], who was engaged in managing various industrial and other projects for [[Grigory Potemkin|Prince Potemkin]]. It was Samuel (as Jeremy later repeatedly acknowledged) who conceived the basic idea of a circular building at the hub of a larger compound as a means of allowing a small number of managers to oversee the activities of a large and unskilled workforce.{{Sfn |Semple |1993 |pp=99–100}}<ref>{{citation |title= Prisons and prison systems: a global encyclopedia| first = Mitchel P | last = Roth |year= 2006 |publisher=Greenwood |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RTH31DgbTzgC&pg=PA33|page= 33| isbn = 978-0313328565 }}</ref>

Bentham began to develop this model, particularly as applicable to prisons, and outlined his ideas in a series of letters sent home to his father in England.{{Sfn |Semple |1993 |pp=99–101}} He supplemented the supervisory principle with the idea of ''contract management''; that is, an administration by contract as opposed to trust, where the director would have a [[pecuniary]] interest in lowering the average rate of mortality.{{Sfn |Semple |1993 |pp=134–140}}

The [[Panopticon]] was intended to be cheaper than the prisons of his time, as it required fewer staff; "Allow me to construct a prison on this model", Bentham requested to a Committee for the Reform of Criminal Law, "I will be the [[gaoler]]. You will see ... that the [[gaoler]] will have no salary—will cost nothing to the nation." As the watchmen cannot be seen, they need not be on duty at all times, effectively leaving the watching to the watched. According to Bentham's design, the prisoners would also be used as menial labour, walking on wheels to spin [[loom]]s or run a [[water wheel]]. This would decrease the cost of the prison and give a possible source of income.<ref>Bentham, Jeremy. [1797] 1995. "[https://books.google.com/books?id=V478RAAACAAJ&pg=PA29 The Panopticon Letters]". pp. 29–95 in ''The Panopticon Writings'', edited by [[Miran Božovič|M. Božovič]]. London: [[Verso Books]].</ref>

The ultimately abortive proposal for a panopticon prison to be built in England was one among his many proposals for legal and social reform.{{sfn|Bentham|1787|p=}} But Bentham spent some sixteen years of his life developing and refining his ideas for the building and hoped that the government would adopt the plan for a National Penitentiary appointing him as contractor-governor. Although the prison was never built, the concept had an important influence on later generations of thinkers. Twentieth-century French philosopher [[Michel Foucault]] argued that the panopticon was [[Paradigmatic analysis|paradigmatic]] of several 19th-century "[[Discipline|disciplinary]]" institutions.{{sfn|Foucault|1977|pp=200, 249–256}} Bentham remained bitter throughout his later life about the rejection of the panopticon scheme, convinced that it had been thwarted by the King and an aristocratic elite. Philip Schofield argues that it was largely because of his sense of injustice and frustration that he developed his ideas of "sinister interest"—that is, of the vested interests of the powerful conspiring against a wider public interest—which underpinned many of his broader arguments for reform.<ref>{{cite book |first=Philip |last=Schofield |title=Bentham: a guide for the perplexed |year=2009 |place=London |publisher= Continuum |isbn=978-0826495891 |pages= 90–93}}</ref>

[[File:Panopticon.jpg|thumb|[[Multiview orthographic projection#Elevation|Elevation]], [[Multiview orthographic projection#Section|section]] and [[Multiview orthographic projection#Plan|plan]] of Bentham's panopticon prison, drawn by [[Willey Reveley]] in 1791]]

On his return to England from Russia, Bentham had commissioned drawings from an architect, [[Willey Reveley]].{{Sfn|Semple|1993|p=118}} In 1791, he published the material he had written as a book, although he continued to refine his proposals for many years to come. He had by now decided that he wanted to see the prison built: when finished, it would be managed by himself as contractor-governor, with the assistance of Samuel. After unsuccessful attempts to interest the authorities in Ireland and revolutionary France,{{Sfn |Semple |1993 |pp=102–104, 107–108}} he started trying to persuade the prime minister, [[William Pitt the Younger|William Pitt]], to revive an earlier abandoned scheme for a National Penitentiary in England, this time to be built as a panopticon. He was eventually successful in winning over Pitt and his advisors, and in 1794 was paid £2,000 for preliminary work on the project.{{Sfn |Semple |1993 |pp=108–110, 262}}

The intended site was one that had been authorised, under the [[Appropriation Act 1799]] ([[39 Geo. 3]]. c. 114) for the earlier penitentiary, at [[Battersea]] Rise; but the new proposals ran into technical legal problems and objections from the local landowner, [[George Spencer, 2nd Earl Spencer|Earl Spencer]].{{Sfn |Semple |1993 |pp=169–189}} Other sites were considered, including one at Hanging Wood, near [[Woolwich]], but all proved unsatisfactory.{{Sfn |Semple |1993 |pp=194–197}} Eventually Bentham turned to a site at Tothill Fields, near [[Westminster]]. Although this was common land, with no landowner, there were a number of parties with interests in it, including [[Richard Grosvenor, 1st Earl Grosvenor|Earl Grosvenor]], who owned a house on an adjacent site and objected to the idea of a prison overlooking it. Again, therefore, the scheme ground to a halt{{Sfn |Semple |1993 |pp=197–217}} At this point, however, it became clear that a nearby site at [[Millbank]], adjoining the [[River Thames|Thames]], was available for sale, and this time things ran more smoothly. Using government money, Bentham bought the land on behalf of the Crown for £12,000 in November 1799.{{Sfn |Semple |1993 |pp=217–222}}

From his point of view, the site was far from ideal, being marshy, unhealthy, and too small. When he asked the government for more land and more money, however, the response was that he should build only a small-scale experimental prison—which he interpreted as meaning that there was little real commitment to the concept of the panopticon as a cornerstone of penal reform.{{Sfn |Semple |1993 |pp=226–231}} Negotiations continued, but in 1801 Pitt resigned from office, and in 1803 the new [[Henry Addington, 1st Viscount Sidmouth|Addington]] administration decided not to proceed with the project.{{Sfn |Semple |1993 |pp=236–239}} Bentham was devastated: "They have murdered my best days."{{Sfn |Semple |1993 |p=244}}

Nevertheless, a few years later the government revived the idea of a National Penitentiary, and in 1811 and 1812 returned specifically to the idea of a panopticon.{{Sfn |Semple |1993 |pp=265–279}} Bentham, now aged 63, was still willing to be governor. However, as it became clear that there was still no real commitment to the proposal, he abandoned hope, and instead turned his attentions to extracting financial compensation for his years of fruitless effort. His initial claim was for the enormous sum of nearly £700,000, but he eventually settled for the more modest (but still considerable) sum of £23,000.{{Sfn |Semple |1993 |pp=279–281}} The Penitentiary House, etc. Act 1812 ([[52 Geo. 3]]. c. 44) transferred his title in the site to the Crown.

More successful was his cooperation with [[Patrick Colquhoun]] in tackling the corruption in the [[Pool of London]]. This resulted in the [[Depredations on the Thames Act 1800]] ([[39 & 40 Geo. 3]]. c. 87).<ref name="French" /> The Act created the [[Thames River Police]], which was the first preventive police force in the country and was a precedent for [[Robert Peel]]'s reforms 30 years later.<ref name=":0">Everett, Charles Warren. 1969. ''Jeremy Bentham''. London: [[Weidenfeld & Nicolson]]. {{ISBN|0297179845}}. {{OCLC|157781}}.</ref>{{Rp|67–69}}

=== Correspondence and contemporary influences ===
[[File:Jeremy Bentham c.1790.jpg|thumb|Bentham by an unknown artist, {{circa|1790}}.]]
Bentham was in correspondence with many influential people. In the 1780s, for example, Bentham maintained a correspondence with the ageing [[Adam Smith]], in an unsuccessful attempt to convince Smith that interest rates should be allowed to freely float.{{sfn|Persky|2007|p=228}} As a result of his correspondence with [[Honoré Gabriel Riqueti, comte de Mirabeau|Mirabeau]] and other leaders of the [[French Revolution]], Bentham was declared an honorary citizen of France.<ref name="ODNB"/> He was an outspoken critic of the revolutionary discourse of [[natural rights]] and of the violence that arose after the [[Jacobin]]s took power (1792). Between 1808 and 1810, he held a personal friendship with [[Spanish American wars of independence|Latin American]] revolutionary [[Francisco de Miranda]] and paid visits to Miranda's Grafton Way house in London. He also developed links with [[José Cecilio del Valle]].<ref name="RubénDarío-1887">{{cite journal|last1=Darío|first1=Rubén|title=La Literatura en Centro-América|journal=Revista de artes y letras|date=1887|volume=XI|page=591|url=http://www.memoriachilena.gob.cl/602/w3-article-86857.html|access-date=25 March 2019|publisher=Biblioteca Nacional de Chile|language=es|id=MC0060418|quote=In Guatemala there was Valle, a man of vast intellect, friend of Jeremías Bentham, with whom he corresponded frequently.  Bentham sent him shortly before dying a lock of his hair and a golden ring, shiny as José Cecilio's style.}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Laura Geggel |title=Oddball Philosopher Had His Mummified Body Put on Display … and Now His Rings Are Missing |url=https://www.livescience.com/63551-philosopher-jeremy-bentham-missing-rings.html |access-date=26 March 2019 |work=[[Live Science]] |date=11 September 2018 |quote="We can safely assume that [Guatemalan philosopher and politician] José del Valle received one, as he is featured wearing it in a portrait", Causer said. "Interestingly, on the bookshelf of that portrait is one of Bentham's works, as well as a Spanish translation of Say's 'Traité d'économie politique.' It's a neat, tangible link between Bentham, Say and del Valle."}}</ref>

In 1821, [[John Cartwright (political reformer)|John Cartwright]] proposed to Bentham that they serve as "Guardians of Constitutional Reform", seven "wise men" whose reports and observations would "concern the entire Democracy or Commons of the United Kingdom". Describing himself, among the names mentioned which also included [[Francis Burdett|Sir Francis Burdett]], [[George Ensor]], and Sir [[Sir Matthew Wood, 1st Baronet|Matthew Wood]], and as a "nonentity", Bentham declined the offer.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Bentham |first=Jeremy |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=01UWAQAAIAAJ |title=The Works of Jeremy Bentham: Memoirs of Bentham |date=1843 |publisher=W. Tait |location=London |pages=522–523 |language=en}}</ref>

===South Australian colony proposal===

On 3 August 1831 the Committee of the National Colonization Society approved the printing of its proposal to establish a free colony on the south coast of Australia, funded by the sale of appropriated colonial lands, overseen by a joint-stock company, and which would be granted powers of self-government as soon as was practicable. Contrary to assumptions, Bentham had no hand in the preparation of the 'Proposal to His Majesty's Government for founding a colony on the Southern Coast of Australia, which was prepared under the auspices of [[Robert Gouger]], [[Charles Grey, 2nd Earl Grey]], and [[Anthony Bacon (British Army officer)|Anthony Bacon]]. Bentham did, however, in August 1831, draft an unpublished work entitled 'Colonization Company Proposal', which constitutes his commentary upon the National Colonization Society's 'Proposal'.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Bentham |first1=Jeremy |editor1-last=Causer |editor1-first=Tim |editor2-last=Schofield |editor2-first=Philip |title=Colonization Company Proposal |date=2018 |publisher=Bentham Project, University College London |location=London |url=https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10055306/ |access-date=8 November 2021}}</ref>

=== Westminster Review ===
In 1823, he co-founded ''[[The Westminster Review]]'' with [[James Mill]] as a journal for the "[[Radicalism (historical)#Political reform|Philosophical Radicals]]"—a group of younger disciples through whom Bentham exerted considerable influence in British public life.{{sfn|Hamburger|1965|p=}}{{sfn|Thomas|1979|p=}} One was [[John Bowring]], to whom Bentham became devoted, describing their relationship as "son and father": he appointed Bowring political editor of ''The Westminster Review'' and eventually his [[literary executor]].{{sfn|Bartle|1963|p=}} Another was [[Edwin Chadwick]], who wrote on hygiene, sanitation, and policing and was a major contributor to the [[Poor Law Amendment Act]]: Bentham employed Chadwick as a secretary and bequeathed him a large legacy.<ref name=":0" />{{Rp|94}}

===Personal life===
Bentham lived a highly structured and disciplined life, but he also exhibited eccentric behavior. He referred to his walking stick as "Dapple" and his cat as "The Reverend Sir John Langbourne." He had several infatuations with women, and wrote on sex.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/jun/26/sexual-irregularities-morality-jeremy-bentham-review|title = Of Sexual Irregularities by Jeremy Bentham – review|website = [[TheGuardian.com]]|date = 26 June 2014}}</ref> But he never married.<ref>{{Cite book|chapter-url=https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/bentham/#LifWri|title = The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy|chapter = Jeremy Bentham|year = 2021|publisher = Metaphysics Research Lab, Stanford University}}</ref> Bentham's daily pattern was to rise at 6 am, walk for 2 hours or more, and then work until 4 pm.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.utilitarianism.com/jeremy-bentham/life.html|title=Jeremy Bentham : founder of utilitarianism|website=www.utilitarianism.com}}</ref>

An insight into his character is given in Michael St. John Packe's ''The Life of John Stuart Mill'':

{{blockquote|During his youthful visits to [[Bowood House]], the country seat of his patron [[William Petty, 2nd Earl of Shelburne|Lord Lansdowne]], he had passed his time at falling unsuccessfully in love with all the ladies of the house, whom he courted with a clumsy jocularity, while playing [[chess]] with them or giving them lessons on the [[harpsichord]]. Hopeful to the last, at the age of eighty he wrote again to one of them, recalling to her memory the far-off days when she had "presented him, in ceremony, with the flower in the green lane" [citing Bentham's memoirs]. To the end of his life he could not hear of Bowood without tears swimming in his eyes, and he was forced to exclaim, "Take me forward, I entreat you, to the future—do not let me go back to the past."{{sfn|Packe|1954|p=16}}}}

A [[Psychobiography|psychobiographical]] study by Philip Lucas and Anne Sheeran argues that he may have had [[Asperger syndrome|Asperger's syndrome]].{{sfn|Lucas|Sheeran|2006|pp= 26–27}}