These three volumes - devoted to Jeremy Bentham, James Mill, and John Stuart Mill - represent a triumph of the contextual method rather than a pure contribution to the History of Philosophy. The Utilitarians, Stephen argues, were social reformers first and philosophers second.
Volume One consists largely of a catalogue of the social evils that provided Bentham with his problem and his stimulus. He realized that the ruling classes did not always desire 'the greatest happiness of the greatest number', and this in turn propelled him towards political radicalism. Volume Two contains an...
These three volumes - devoted to Jeremy Bentham, James Mill, and John Stuart Mill - represent a triumph of the contextual method rather than a pure...
