Enlightenment and utility : Bentham in French, Bentham in France / Emmanuelle de Champs.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Champs, Emmanuelle de, author.

Series:

Ideas in context ; 110.

Ideas in context ; 110

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Bentham, Jeremy, 1748-1832--Influence.

Bentham, Jeremy.

Enlightenment.

Utilitarianism.

France.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (ix, 230 pages) : digital, PDF file(s).

Other Title:

Enlightenment & Utility

Place of Publication:

Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 2015.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

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 Examining previously unpublished sources, she traces the circulation of Bentham's letters, friends, manuscripts, and books in the French-speaking world.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.

Contents:

Cover; Half title; Seriespage; Title; Contents; 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: 'Project for a complete body of laws' (Projet) 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 legislators9 Utility, rights and revolution: missed encounters?; Part IV: 1802: Bentham in Paris; 10 Dumont's editorship: from the Bibliothèque britannique to Traités de législation civile et pénale; 11 A mixed reception; 12 Autumn 1802: Three weeks 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; Index

Notes:

Title from publisher's bibliographic system (viewed on 05 Oct 2015).

ISBN:

1-316-29007-7

1-316-32409-5

1-316-31071-X

1-316-33077-X

1-316-33411-2

1-316-32743-4

1-107-49159-2

1-316-16243-5

1-316-32073-1