Hedonism, Indirect Legislation and Paederasty in Bentham' s Thought

Abstract

  Most scholars interpret utilitarianism philosophy, especially Bentham's, as the principle of majority rule. In contrast, however, I intend in this paper to sketch Bentham' s advocacy of minority groups such as homosexuals, and criticize J. Rawls' interpretation of utilitarianism. I shall concentrate my attention on re-examining the relation among the concepts of hedonism, indirect legislation and paederasty to investigate the character of hedonism in his thought.

  Bentham criticized Blackstone, Montesquieu and Voltaire's ideas of paederasty from five points of view. His critiques are based on his critical view of language, the principle of asceticism and the principle of sympathy and antipathy, which can be extracted from his essay Paederasty, and his books Introduction (IPML) and Traités de législation civile et pénale.

  Bentham believed it important to enlighten the government and the people in matters concerning paederasty by indirect legislation. Because it is necessary to construct a “regime of publicity,” which is one of indirect legislation, to cure the prejudices of people, including intellectuals, who persecute someone having paederastic tastes.

  When examining some of his critiques, it seems clear that Bentham' s utilitarianism is characterized by hedonism, which is “not pleasure but avoidance of pain.”