A Reflection on Bentham's Conception of Government in his Early Times:

Enlightened Legislator and Public

Abstract

A great deal of effort has been made on Bentham's thought in general. What seems to be lacking, however, is a systematic analysis of Bentham's conception of government in his early times. In this paper, I intend to sketch Bentham's conception of government as the “régime of publicity”. My analytical approaches are based on the ideas in his Fragment and Introduction (IPML). I shall extract a “mutual enlightenment” from his Essays on Political Tactics and “mutual discipline” from his Panopticon. For these concepts reflect relationship between governor and governed, I shall concentrate my attention on analyzing a “pessimistic legislator” and a “progressive public”. When examining some of these, it surely makes sense that Bentham's conception of government as the “régime of publicity” is characterized by “mutual enlightenment” and “mutual discipline”.