Classical Utilitarianism from Hume to Mill

ISBN-13: 9780415220941 / Angielski / Twarda / 2003 / 304 str.

Frederick Rosen; F. Rosen;Rosen Frederick

Opis

This text presents a controversial analysis of the idea of utility, its role in the foundation of morality, and its connection with justice and liberty, from Hume's Enquiry concerning the Principles of Morals to J.S. Mill's On Liberty and Utilitarianism. The book is situated within the philosophical context of the earlier Epicurean tradition with its emphasis on pleasure, pain and utility on which the main figures discussed in this book - Hume, Smith, Helvetius, Bentham, Paley, and J.S. Mill - drew. The author defines a classical utilitarian tradition, which in turn is defended as a coherent context for understanding important arguments in moral and political philosophy concerned with justice, rights, liberty, individuality, equality and democracy.

Spis treści

1. IntroductionPart I2. Utility and Justice: Epicurus and the Epicurean Tradition3. Reading Hume Backwards: Utility as the Foundation of Morals4. The Idea of Utility in Smith's The Theory of Moral Sentiments5. Helvetius, the Scottish Enlightenment, and Bentham's Idea of Utility6. The Idea of Utility in Smith's Wealth of Nations7. Bentham and Smith on Liberty8. William Paley as a Utilitarian9. Liberty, Utility, and the Reform of the Criminal Law10. J.S. Mill's Hedonism11. J.S. Mill on Justice and LibertyPart II12. Punishment of the Innocent13. Individual Sacrifice and the Greatest Happiness14. The Tyranny of the Majority15. Negative Liberty

O autorze

Frederick Rosen is Professor of the History of Political Thought at University College London. He has served as General Editor of The Collected Works of Jeremy Bentham, Director of the Jeremy Bentham Project, and Director of the Centre for Politics, Law and Society at UCL. Among his books are Jeremy Bentham and Representative Democracy(1983) and Bentham, Byron and Greece: Constitutionalism, Nationalism, and Early Liberal Political Thought (1992). He has co-edited several books, was the founding editor of Utilitas, and has contributed numerous articles to various learned journals.