A Dictionary of Philosophy, Third Edition
. 1748–1832. Moral, political and legal philosopher, who was born in London and worked mainly there. He is generally regarded as the first major UTILITARIAN thinker, though he also had some interest in the theory of meaning, where he held a nominalist position, treating abstract entities as ‘fictions’; this position underlay his treatment of moral and legal notions.
He also devoted much of his writing to working out the practical appli-cations of his theoretical views, in such fields as prison reform and the writing of constitutions. A Fragment on Government, 1776 (attacks the then fashionable legal theorist W.Blackstone). An Introduction to the Principles of Morals and Legislation, 1789).
This is the complete article, containing 109 words
(approx. 1 page at 300 words per page).
View More Summaries on Jeremy Bentham
