For this reason, Bentham supported the French Rev-
olution of 1789 (contrary to Edmund BURKE), though
he later criticized its excesses. Because of his endorse-
ment of government-promoted equality, security, and
economic welfare, Bentham is influential in the later
concept of the welfare state, LIBERALISM, and SOCIALISM.
Further Readings
Harrison, R. Bentham.London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1983.
Hart, H. L. A. (Herbert Lionel Adolphus). Essays on Bentham:
Studies in Jurisprudence and Political Theory.Oxford, Eng.:
Clarendon Press; New York: Oxford University Press, 1982.
Hume, L. J. Bentham and Bureaucracy.Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press, 1981.
Rosen, F. Jeremy Bentham and Representative Democracy: A Study
of the Constitutional Code.Oxford, Eng.: Clarendon Press,
1983.
Steintrager, James. Bentham.Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University
Press, 1977.
Blackstone, Sir William (1723–1780) En-
glish legal philosopher, jurist, and politician
Best known for his writing on the English common
law, Blackstone penned the four-volume Commentaries
on the Laws of England(1765–69), which greatly influ-
enced views of British government and law throughout
the world. This legal scholarship came out of his lec-
tures at All Souls College, Oxford University.
Blackstone interprets the English common-law tra-
dition through the parliamentary supremacy view of
the glorious revolution of 1688. This posits an ANCIENT
CONSTITUTIONof English rights and liberties in Pre-Nor-
man (1066) England that was corrupted by Norman
monarchy, feudalism, and CATHOLICChristianity. In this
Whig view, the modern revolution of 1688, which gave
supreme power to the REPUBLICANParliament, strictly
limited the power of the monarchy, established the
Protestant Christian faith, and allowed extensive pri-
vate PROPERTYand commerce, was simply a restoration
of the ancient liberties in England. This views MEDIEVAL
English common law through the modern LIBERALISMof
John LOCKE. Blackstone discusses English law through
the categories of Persons (volume I); Property (volume
II); Private Wrongs or torts—civil law (volume III); and
Public Wrongs or criminal law (volume IV). The last
book also discusses penal law with humane recommen-
dations for reforming the barbaric punishments in En-
gland at the time.
Blackstone’s writings effectively codified the mod-
ern British liberal, NATURAL RIGHTSview of English law.
He greatly influenced subsequent British politics and
law throughout the empire. In the North American
colonies, most lawyers read Blackstone and used his
ideas on individual rights, republican government, and
the ancient constitution in their arguments for Ameri-
can independence during the American Revolution.
Thomas JEFFERSON, author of the DECLARATION OF INDE-
PENDENCE and other Revolutionary pamphlets, espe-
cially employed Blackstone against the British imperial
system and policies. Blackstone is still regarded as a
classic on English common law.
He was educated at Pembroke College, Oxford, and
after teaching at All Souls, Oxford, Blackstone served
as a Tory member of Parliament and ended his distin-
guished career as a British judge. Blackstone’s legal
philosophy is considered representative of Whig natu-
ral-rights liberalism and CONSERVATIVEBritish constitu-
tionalism.Further Readings
Blackstone, W. Commentaries on the Laws of England,facsimile
ed. Chicago: Chicago University Press, 1979.
Boorstin, D. The Mysterious Science of the Law. Cambridge,
Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1941.
Jones, G. The Sovereignty of the Law: Selections from Blackstone’s
Commentaries.London: Macmillan, 1973.Bloch, Ernst (1885–1977) German Marxist and
theorist of utopiaErnst Bloch was one of a group of 20th-century MARX-
ISTS who challenged the reductive materialism and
dogmatic determinism of classical Marxism. He is
best known for his UTOPIANISM. Bloch argued that real-
ity (nature and persons) is “unfinished,” character-
ized by potential and possibility (the “not-yet”).
Nature is thus dynamic, and persons are desiring.
His utopianism thus consists of the possibility of
“reuniting” nature (the object) and persons (the sub-
ject). Bloch’s work pays little attention to the eco-
nomic substructure and focuses instead on the
superstructural categories of language and culture.
Here, the idea of possibility is expressed in his notion
of Hope. Hope is the anticipation of utopic possibili-
ties: It brings into consciousness the “not-yet
thought” and thus makes a utopian future realizable.
Bloch’s major work, The Principle of Hope(1959), is
an encyclopedic survey and analysis of hope and
anticipation in the realms of both the mundane (for
example, in daydreams and popular literature) and in34 Blackstone, Sir William