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Secondary sourceBook1900

The English Utilitarians, Volume 1: Jeremy Bentham

Leslie Stephen · 1900

A historical study by Leslie Stephen examining Bentham alongside James Mill and John Stuart Mill as founders of utilitarianism.

This later study places Bentham within the tradition of English utilitarian philosophers he helped found.

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About this source

What it is

This is the first volume of a three-volume historical study written by Leslie Stephen, published in 1900. It examines Jeremy Bentham as part of a broader look at the English utilitarian tradition, alongside James Mill and John Stuart Mill.

Why it matters

Written nearly seventy years after Bentham's death, this book shows how later generations of thinkers assessed Bentham's legacy and placed him in a tradition that included other major utilitarian philosophers. It reflects how historians connect ideas across generations of thinkers.

Look closer

  • Why might a historian group Bentham together with James Mill and John Stuart Mill?
  • What can we learn about a philosopher's influence by seeing how later writers group him with his followers?
  • What might this book leave out that a reader interested in Bentham's own words would want to know?

This book 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.

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