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Primary sourceBook1825

Théorie des peines et des récompenses

Jeremy Bentham (edited by Étienne Dumont) · 1825

Bentham's theory of punishment and reward, presented in French by his editor Étienne Dumont.

This French edition presents Bentham's own theory of punishment and reward, organized by his editor Dumont.

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Théorie des peines et des récompenses
Jeremy Bentham, edited by Étienne Dumont, Théorie des peines et des récompenses, 1825. Scanned book, Internet Archive.

About this source

What it is

This French-language book presents Jeremy Bentham's theory of punishment and reward, drawn from his manuscripts by Étienne Dumont. This edition was published in 1825.

Why it matters

This text shows the core of Bentham's utilitarian approach to criminal justice: the idea that punishments and rewards should be measured and designed according to their practical effects. Like much of Bentham's work, it reached readers only because Dumont organized and published it.

Look closer

  • Why might Bentham have thought carefully about rewards as well as punishments?
  • What does it suggest about Bentham's working habits that so much of his writing needed an editor to reach print?
  • How might ideas about punishment from the early 1800s differ from ideas today?

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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