Jeremy Bentham

1748-1832

Jeremy Bentham was a British economist, philosopher eccentric and founder of University College, London; educated at Westminster School and Queen’s College, Oxford. His books, Defense of Usury (1787), Principles and Morals of Legislation (1823) and Manual of Political Economy (1825) all extol the classical liberal tradition of laissez-faire. Bentham is best known for his utilitarianism, especially in his calculus of pleasure and pain.