Enlightenment and Utility

Erscheinungsjahr 2017
ISBN: 978-1-107-49159-5
Verlag: Cambridge University Press

Buch, Englisch, Band 110, 252 Seiten, Format (B × H): 152 mm x 229 mm, Gewicht: 345 g

Reihe: Ideas in Context

Jeremy Bentham, the founder of classical utilitarianism, was a seminal figure in the history of modern political thought. This lively monograph presents the numerous French connections of an emblematic British thinker. Perhaps more than any other intellectual of his time, Bentham engaged with contemporary events and people in France, even writing in French in the 1780s. Placing Bentham's thought in the context of the French-language Enlightenment through to the post-Revolutionary era, Emmanuelle de Champs makes the case for a historical study of 'Global Bentham'. Examining previously unpublished sources, she traces the circulation of Bentham's letters, friends, manuscripts, and books in the French-speaking world. This study in transnational intellectual history reveals how utilitarianism, as a doctrine, was both the product of, and a contribution to, French-language political thought at a key time in European history. The debates surrounding utilitarianism in France cast new light on the making of modern Liberalism.

Autoren/Hrsg.

de Champs, Emmanuelle

Fachgebiete

• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Geschichtliche Themen Kultur- und Ideengeschichte
• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Geschichtswissenschaft Allgemein
• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Weltgeschichte & Geschichte einzelner Länder und Gebietsräume Geschichte einzelner Länder Europäische Länder

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Acknowledgements; A note on translations; Introduction; Part I. An Englishman in the Republic of Letters: 1. Languages of Enlightenment; 2. Satire and polemics; 3. Defining utilitarianism: private connections and correspondence; Part II. 'Projet d'un corps de loix complet' and the Reform of Jurisprudence in Europe: 4. The Genesis of Projet; 5. Projet in Enlightenment legal thought; 6. The politics of legal reform; Part III. Reflections for the Revolution in France: 7. Frenchmen and Francophiles: Lord Lansdowne's network; 8. British expertise for French legislators; 9. Utility, rights and revolution: missed encounters?; Part IV. Utile Dulcis? Bentham in Paris, 1802: 10. Dumont's editorship: from the Bibliothèque Britannique to Traités de législation civile et pénale; 11. A mixed reception; 12. Autumn 1802: Bentham in Paris; Part V. Liberty, Utility and Rights (1815–1832): 13. 'For one disciple in this country, I have fifty at least in France'; 14. Utilitarian arguments in French politics; 15. A Utilitarian moment? French liberals and utilitarianism; Epilogue: Bentham in the July Revolution; Conclusion; Bibliography.

Über Autor(innen)

de Champs, Emmanuelle
Emmanuelle de Champs is Professor of British History and Civilisation at Université Cergy-Pontoise (France) and a former student of the Ecole Normale Supérieure de Fontenay-Saint Cloud. She is a founding member of the Centre Bentham Ecole de droit de Sciences-Po, Paris, the leading French research centre in utilitarian studies and collaborates with the Bentham Project, University College London, on Bentham's French manuscripts. De Champs has published numerous articles on Bentham and classical utilitarianism, aw well as two monographs: Bentham et la France: fortunes et infortunes de L'utilitarisme (2009) and 'La déontologie politique' ou la pensée constitutionnelle de Jeremy Bentham (2008). She is a member of the Committee, Bentham Project, University College London, and a Board Member for the International Society of Utilitarian Studies.