Skip to main content

Primary sourceArtifact1832

Auto-icon of Jeremy Bentham

Thomas Southwood Smith · 1832

Bentham's own preserved skeleton, dressed in his clothes and seated with his cane, kept at University College London according to his wishes.

Bentham's own body and clothing, preserved and displayed exactly as he instructed before his death.

Ask Jeremy Bentham about this sourceView the original(opens in new tab)
Wooden cabinet case with gold lettering reading JEREMY BENTHAM, its doors open, containing a seated figure dressed in black coat, white cravat, grey trousers and a straw hat, with a wax head. The display is in a tiled hallway.
Auto-icon of Jeremy Bentham, arranged by Thomas Southwood Smith, 1832. University College London.

About this source

What it is

This is the preserved skeleton of Jeremy Bentham, dressed in his own clothes and seated in a wooden display case, created in 1832 by Thomas Southwood Smith following Bentham's instructions. It is kept at University College London.

Why it matters

Bentham arranged for his body to be preserved and displayed after death, a practice he called an 'auto-icon'. This reflects his belief that even the dead body could be put to useful purpose, in keeping with his utilitarian outlook that value should be judged by usefulness rather than tradition or custom. It is an unusual and direct example of a philosopher applying his own ideas to his own body.

Look closer

  • Why might Bentham have wanted his body preserved and displayed rather than buried in the usual way?
  • What does this choice tell you about how seriously Bentham took his own philosophy?
  • How do you think people at the time might have reacted to this unusual request?

This artifact is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Jeremy Bentham on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

More Jeremy Bentham sources

Meet the AI Jeremy Bentham →
Title page of An Introduction to the Principles of Morals and Legislation. Text reads: AN INTRODUCTION TO THE PRINCIPLES OF MORALS AND LEGISLATION, printed in the year 1780 and now first published, by Jeremy Bentham, of Lincoln's Inn, Esquire. London: printed for T. Payne and Son, at the Mews Gate, MDCCLXXXIX.Book

Primary source

An Introduction to the Principles of Morals and Legislation

Jeremy Bentham · 1789 (printed 1780)

Title page of Jeremy Bentham's 'Panopticon; or, The Inspection-House' (1791), showing the title, subtitle listing penitentiary houses and schools, author 'By Jeremy Bentham, of Lincoln's Inn, Esquire', and imprint 'Dublin, Printed; London, reprinted; and sold by T. Payne, at the Mews Gate. 1791'.Book

Primary source

Panopticon; or, The Inspection-House

Jeremy Bentham · 1791 (letters written 1787)

Dark blue cloth book cover with a white rectangular library label on the left spine area reading Trinity College Library, with a barcode and number 31761 02710574 1 printed vertically.Book

Primary source

A Fragment on Government

Jeremy Bentham · 1776

Full-length oil portrait of an elderly man with long white hair, seated in a carved wooden armchair in a dark brown fur-trimmed robe over a white shirt. A table at left holds leather-bound books, an inkwell, papers, and a rolled document against a dark background.Painting

Primary source

Jeremy Bentham

Henry William Pickersgill · c. 1829

Black-and-white photograph of a circular bronze medallion in profile relief showing an elderly man facing left, with a balding forehead, long hair swept back, a prominent nose, and a signature inscribed on the right edge.Sculpture

Primary source

Jeremy Bentham Portrait Medallion

David d'Angers

Ready when you are

Start chatting with Jeremy Bentham now.

20 messages free · No credit card · Available in 50+ languages.

Trial Humy for freeGet a quote for institutions