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.”

  This paper discusses Wollstonecraft's idea of patriotism in the context of the so-called “Revolution Debate” of the 1790s. In A Vindication of the Rights of Men, she undermines Edmund Burke's sentimental concept of patriotism by putting forward a version which stressed “universal benevolence”, “enlightenment” and a “disinterested” contribution towards the public good. She was influenced in this through her involvement with Rational Dissent, most notably by Richard Price whose writings in support of the French Revolution display a certain “internationalism”. Her patriotism involves a “feminist” claim for the fuller participation of women in the public sphere. Despite the cosmopolitan stance of her work, she was not entirely free from the dominant prejudices of her time.

  The British radicals (including Wollstonecraft) were labelled during the mid-l 790s by loyalist propaganda as anti-patriots who sought to destroy Britain in alliance with France. This situation made their appeals to “universal” patriotism especially difficult. Despite the loyalist backlash, despite the growing disillusionment with the events in France, Wollstonecraft's critical and reformist attitude towards her society remains unchanged. Her last novel, Wrongs of Woman, addresses the kind of patriotism which was dominant in the repressive Britain of the late 1790s. My paper seeks to demonstrate Wollstonecraft's “alternative” patriotism which should not be so easily dismissed as Linda Colley so evidently does in Britons.

  The aim of this paper is to reassess the value of Leslie Stephens interpretation of Edmund Burke's political thought.

  Stephen's interpretation is generally supposed one of the Victorian interpretations of Burke's thought which mainly focus on the utilitarian aspects of Burke.

  It is P. J. Stanlis who contributes much to the making of this view on Stephen's interpretation.

  In Edmund Burke and the Natural Law, Stanlis maintains that Burkes political thought is based on the Traditional Natural Law.

  Stanlis argues that Stephen's interpretation is not valid because he cannot appreciate the cardinal importance of the Traditional Natural Law which plays a key role in Burke's political thought.

  By comparing Stephen's interpretation with Stanlis', I make it clear that Stephen gains an insight into an important dimension of Burke's political thought which Stanlis cannot apprehend well enough.

  Stephen realizes that the unique and important feature of Burke's thought lies not in what his thought is based on, but how he apprehends the connection between political thought and practical matters should be.

  Finally I consider the relevance of this reassessment of Stephen's interpretation to the present politics, with focus on the idea of Political Judgment which Ronald Beiner formulates.