On The Sovereignty Of Bentham's Utilitarianism

Jeremy Bentham (1748 -1832) is the famous British philosopher, jurists and economist, meanwhile, He is utilitarianism, the founders of liberal political thought. He lives mainly in writing and political, legal reform activities. Many people understand his utilitarianism, but few people study the sovereignty of thinking in his " Fragment on Government ". Therefore, the theory of the sovereignty of his research is of great significance.He abandons the traditional contract theory and establishes his sovereignty theory in the utilitarian principle. Bentham believes that sovereignty lies in the formation of the habit of obedience, However, it is the reason to the performance of one or some obedience for the considerations of utilitarian. Therefore utilitarian principle is the basis of the entire political sovereignty and the ultimate origin.Bentham thinks that the authority of the sovereign is unlimited, absolute, without any constraints. The authority of this body can not be considered to have any designation and certainly the scope of the agreement unless explicitly restrictions. Sovereignty is the task of legislation, so people must obey the law generally. This is why he puts sovereignty of the legislative power on the final exposition, in the "Fragment on Government", and stresses that the supreme law-making powers is the right but not an obligation-Why Bentham give sovereignty to the supreme authority? We should see his lifetime pursuit of the ideal of the building. Bentham attributes to the pursuit of happiness and joy about all human behavior, and human happiness and suffering is dominant. Bentham's target is to achieve the maximum life, "the overwhelming majority of the greatest happiness". He hopes to build human happiness through the hands of the legal and rational construction. To this end, he calls on political reform legislation. Bentham hopes that the establishment of the sovereign authority, through legislative reform, to achieve the greatest happiness of the majority of the people. Therefore, in the "Fragment on Government", Bentham's utilitarian thinking and theory of sovereignty get in a perfect blend together. This Article, through the "Fragment on Government" of reading, intends to study the thinking of the sovereignty of his utilitarianism, and deepen people's awareness and understanding of thinking to Bentham. Its main contents include the following:PartⅠ, It is the outline of the Bentham's utilitarian thinking. Bentham's goal is to achieve the greatest happiness of the majority of the people, His sovereignty doctrine is to build this ideal, Therefore, we must understand his thinking utilitarianism firstly. We should, through its sovereignty on the establishment of a true understand the inherent logic of his thinking.PartⅡ, It is Aim to seize the basic issue of British sovereignty doctrine , as well as its sovereignty and his theory interlinkages. Based on the history of British sovereignty doctrine to briefly review, the relationships of the sovereignty doctrine can be found between the Bentham and Hobbes, Locke, the Black Stone.PartⅢ, I will elaborate Bentham's utilitarian thinking of sovereignty in his " Government-On," and note the interlinkages between The utilitarian thinking and his theory of the sovereignty. His utilitarian thinking on sovereignty embodied in the " Fragment on Government", which appears in "British Law Interpretation" , which Black Stone write. In order to understand and compare, I will use the same methodological as Bentham's to State. Because of the close relationship of Bentham and Austin, I will answer them for a brief comparison between their doctrines of sovereignty. At the same time, the whole doctrine of sovereignty Bentham's utilitarianism made a general comment.