Abstract copyright UK Data Service and data collection copyright owner.

The aim of the Bentham Project is to produce a new scholarly edition of the works and correspondence of Jeremy Bentham (1748-1832), the influential jurist, philosopher and social scientist, whom A.J.P. Taylor described as 'the most formidable reasoner who ever applied his gifts to the practical questions of administration and politics'. The case for producing a new edition of Bentham's works rests partly on the importance of his thought, and partly on the inadequate and incomplete fashion in which his works were previously published. His writings are remarkable for their range, originality and influence. He was one of the greatest reformers, perhaps the greatest, in the history of English law. He was a major thinker in the disciplines of legal and political philosophy, ethics, public administration, social policy and economics. He has been recognised, too, as a pioneer in other fields ranging from international law and the birth control movement to motivational psychology and deontic logic. The task of producing the new edition is a daunting one. It involves the exploration of a very substantial body of manuscript material, the principal collections being those of University College London and the British Library. Since 1968, twenty-five volumes of the new Collected Works have been published under the auspices of the Bentham Committee. It is envisaged that when complete the edition will comprise approximately seventy volumes, of which fourteen will be devoted to Bentham's correspondence. Such an edition will, it is hoped, make available a fuller and more inclusive view of Bentham's thought and of his contribution to the science of man and society than has been possible hitherto.

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The data consist of full transcriptions of the following manuscripts: Securities Against Misrule, University College London Library, Boxes 021, 024, 106, 109. Analysis of the efficacy of representative institutions and the publicity of official actions in preventing the abuse of government power. Constitutional Code, University College London Library, Boxes 023, 034, 036, 037, 038, 041, 042, 044, 106, 139, 158. The most important statement of Bentham's theory of constitutional democracy, which includes discussion of sovereignty, constitutional rule, and democratic and monarchical government. Official Aptitude Maximized: Expense Minimized, University College London Library, Boxes 106, 112, 113, 114, 158, 160. Analysis of the means of achieving efficient and economical government, with the problem of official corruption placed at the centre of the analysis. Book of Fallacies, University College London Library, Boxes 103, 104, 105. Exposure of various types of specious and tendentious arguments used by the opponents of reform. 'Emancipation Spanish' and 'Rid Yourselves of Ultramaria', University College London Library, Boxes 162, 164, 167, 172. Analysis of the harmful effects of colonies on commerce and constitutional democracy. Codification Proposal, University College London Library, Boxes 012, 060, 080, 084. Expression of the view that existing law is cumbersome and illogical, and that the only remedy is the replacement of all law with a complete code of laws. Writings on Medicine and Poor Relief, University College London Library, Boxes 151, 152, 153, 154. Exposition of the principles on which Bentham's theory of poor relief is based. Full transcriptions of manuscripts relating to the following subjects: Annuity notes, Sinking fund, Political economy, Alarm remedies, Maximum price of corn, Box 003. International law, Law persons, law war, cabinet, pacification, international peace, Box 025. Evidence, University College London Library, Boxes 045, 047, 048, 049, 058, 059, 074, 166. An examination of the different types of evidence used in civil and criminal justice, and the different methods of extracting it. Scotch Reform, Boxes 091, 093. Logic, University College London Library, Boxes 101, 102. Account of the relationship between thought, language and action. France, University College London Library, Boxes 146, 166, 170. Writings inspired by events in revolutionary France; including the famous attack on the French Declaration of Rights. Parliamentary Reform, University College London Library, Boxes 111, 125, 126, 128, 129, 130, 131. Expression of the commitment to democracy and the adoption of political radicalism in which near universal suffrage and secret ballots are proposed. A deep analysis of misrule encompasses political corruption, the patronage system and the dilution and domination of the masses by the 'ruling few' and sets out political remedies. Full transcriptions of the following fragments: Colonization Society, University College London Library, Box 008 Colony and Navy, University College London Library, Box 017 Definitions of Pain and Pleasure, University College London Library, Box 096 Auto-icon etc., University College London Library, Box 149 Civil Code etc., University College London Library, Box 146.

No sampling (total universe)

Transcription of existing materials