Jeremy Bentham, John Stuart Mill and Liberalism

Question 1

Bentham’s political philosophy went beyond theories, concepts and analysis to include what?

Answer 1

behavior, institutions and detailed reform

Question 2

What was Bentham’s guiding principle?

Answer 2

that it was practical results which justified theoretical study

Question 3

Bentham’s principle of utility attempts to unite?

Answer 3

theory and practice

Question 4

Bentham’s first published work “Fragment on Government” appeared when?

Answer 4

1776

Question 5

In his first work he expressed the belief that it is…?

Answer 5

“the greatest happiness of the greatest number that is the measure of right and wrong”

Question 6

What basic theory did Bentham lay down in his “Introduction to the Principles of Morals and Legislation”?

Answer 6

nature dictates that mankind is ruled by pleasure and pain, and these determine what we do and what we ought to do

Question 7

Bentham used the theory of utility to attack orthodox thought and contemporary practice. What is meant by utility?

Answer 7

Utility is a critical standard by which to judge existing institutions in order to reform them

Question 8

What did Bentham refer to as “the motive”?

Answer 8

the cause all human actions

Question 9

The motive is always…?

Answer 9

the pursuit of pleasure and the avoidance of pain

Question 10

What did Bentham say about pleasure?

Answer 10

• it is the sole motive

- it alone is good

Question 11

What were Bentham’s views of government?

Answer 11

• the proper purpose of government is the greatest happiness of the community
• the actual state of affairs is one in which the rulers pursue their own interest in conflict with this

Question 12

A representative system for Bentham, is?

Answer 12

the only form of government which can protect the individual and in which there is security for good government ?

Question 13

In Bentham’s representative government an…?

Answer 13

identity is created between the representative body and the community and the representative body is supreme

Question 14

What were the main additional checks to the defects and abuse of government?

Answer 14

Freedom of the press and distrust of government

Question 15

Mill’s “Remarks on Bentham’s Philosophy” was published when?

Answer 15

1833

Question 16

In his article Mill’s stated that Bentham’s great fault was that he…?

Answer 16

limited the judgement of an action simply to an evaluation of its consequences and in doing so had ignored the relationship

Question 17

What was Mill’s view on pleasure?

Answer 17

he felt that pleasures are not all of a kind; people are not mere animals and the notion of pleasure must take into account this distinction

Question 18

For Mill’s the pursuit of happiness was?

Answer 18

the pursuit of higher pleasure

Question 19

Mill’s defines higher pleasure as?

Answer 19

• personal affection
• social feeling
• art
• poetry
• history
• mental culture generally

Question 20

For Mill’s the standard of morality is?

Answer 20

the happiness of all concerned

Question 21

Mill’s modified his utilitarianism and?

Answer 21

gave it a distinctly liberal character

Question 22

Mill’s view of the value of freedom and the proper relationship between the individual and society appeared where?

Answer 22

in his best known work, “On Liberty” published in 1859