An A-Z of medical philosophy: Bentham, Mill, and Utilitarianism.

Jeremy Bentham (1748–1832) was a one man social revolution. He was a lawyer who sought to reform the penal code. He designed the first high surveillance jail. He founded University College London. He drafted the first new South American constitutions for his friend Simon Bolivar. And when he died his will stated that his body should be stuffed and dressed in his clothes so that he could still preside over College Council at UCL (he was minuted as ‘present but not voting’). And he completely reinvented morality. Bentham was an Enlightenment man. Morals must come not from authority or tradition, not from religious commands, but from reason. Bentham thought he had it sorted. He famously stated: