Overview

This collection of essays covers the reception of Jeremy Bentham's legal and political thought in a variety of different countries and historical periods. Authors from around the world explore how Bentham's utilitarian program of legal and political reform was disseminated (and sometimes distorted) in the United States, France, Germany, Japan, Russia, China, Italy, Spain and Australia. Themes or issues shared amongst the essays include the prominent role Étienne Dumont's famous redactions of Bentham's texts played in the early international reception of Bentham's thought, the ways in which Bentham's theories of law and government both succeeded and failed to penetrate political cultures that possessed natural law leanings and, relatedly, the apparent philosophical plasticity of Bentham's thinking (from which both liberal and authoritarian traditions have tried to profit). Together, the essays offer a fresh perspective on the relationship between Bentham's legal and political thought and the global history of utilitarianism. Simon Palmer is a research student at the University of Leuphana Lüneburg. His research interests include both contemporary legal philosophy as well as its history, with a particular interest in Bentham's views on language, morality, and law. He has taught at University College London and at the University of Oxford. Zhai Xiaobo is Associate Professor at the University of Macau. His research interests include legal philosophy, constitutional theory, and Bentham studies. His publications in English have appeared in Law and Philosophy, The Journal of Legal History, and International Journal of Constitutional Law. His coedited volume Bentham's Theory of Law and Public Opinion was published by Cambridge University Press in 2014.Stuart Mill. xvii, 241 pp.

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