Hume, Bentham and Mill 85existence of God. Reason is too weak to prove the existence of
God, he believed. Hume does not say that there is no God, just
that there is not enough evidence to prove that there is.
Hume, along with other British philosophers, attacked the
long history of rationalism and the concept of innate ideas. His
contribution to the philosophy of skepticism and subjectivism
made him Scotland’s most important philosopher. He died in
1776.Jeremy Bentham (1748-1832)
Jeremy Bentham was born on February 15,1748 in London,
England. In 1783 he graduated from Queen’s College at Oxford.
Although trained for the law, he never practiced, but instead
decided to devote his life to the study and correction of the abuses
he saw in the the social, legal, and political system.
Bentham’s philosophy, called Utilitarianism, which he learned
in part from the writings of David Hume, means that ideas are
judged on their basic utility, and utility is defined as the object’s
ability to produce happiness. Also, happiness and pleasure are
thought to be synonymous. Utilitarianism, according to Bentham,
has three major points. First, all pleasure can be accurately
measured; this is his concept of hedonistic calculus. Next, he
defines psychological hedonism, which maintains that individu
als care only about increasing pleasure and decreasing pain.
Finally, he believes that a person should always do that which
produces the greatest good for the greatest number, which is
called ethical hedonism.
Because of Bentham’s criticisms and suggestions many re
forms were completed in Great Britain. For example, the law
courts were reformed, health, prison, and insurance laws were
passed, and the poor laws were changed.
In 1776, Bentham wrote Fragment on Government, a political
criticism. His greatest work, however, which contains a clear
statement of the principles of Utilitarianism, is Introduction to
the Principles o f Morals and Legislation.
Jeremy Bentham died June 6, 1832. At his request, his body
was dissected in front of his friends, and then stuffed. A wax
facsimile of his head placed on the body, which is seated in a