PHILOSOPHER

Jeremy Bentham

1748 - 1832

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Jeremy Bentham (; 4 February 1747/8 O.S. [15 February 1748 N.S.] – 6 June 1832) was an English philosopher, jurist, and social reformer regarded as the founder of modern utilitarianism. Bentham defined as the "fundamental axiom" of his philosophy the principle that "it is the greatest happiness of the greatest number that is the measure of right and wrong." He became a leading theorist in Anglo-American philosophy of law, and a political radical whose ideas influenced the development of welfarism. He advocated individual and economic freedoms, the separation of church and state, freedom of expression, equal rights for women, the right to divorce, and (in an unpublished essay) the decriminalising of homosexual acts. Read more on Wikipedia

Since 2007, the English Wikipedia page of Jeremy Bentham has received more than 4,855,190 page views. His biography is available in 77 different languages on Wikipedia (up from 74 in 2019). Jeremy Bentham is the 97th most popular philosopher (down from 78th in 2019), the 107th most popular biography from United Kingdom (down from 81st in 2019) and the 7th most popular British Philosopher.

Jeremy Bentham is most famous for his theory of utilitarianism, which is the idea that the moral worth of an action is based on its usefulness in increasing pleasure and decreasing pain.

Memorability Metrics

  • 4.9M

    Page Views (PV)

  • 74.11

    Historical Popularity Index (HPI)

  • 77

    Languages Editions (L)

  • 9.05

    Effective Languages (L*)

  • 4.35

    Coefficient of Variation (CV)

Among PHILOSOPHERS

Among philosophers, Jeremy Bentham ranks 97 out of 1,267Before him are Leucippus, Walter Benjamin, Zhuang Zhou, Pierre-Joseph Proudhon, Jean Bodin, and Boethius. After him are George Gurdjieff, Roger Bacon, Anaximenes of Miletus, Al-Tabari, Aristippus, and Jacques Derrida.

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Contemporaries

Among people born in 1748, Jeremy Bentham ranks 2Before him is Jacques-Louis David. After him are Olympe de Gouges, Charles IV of Spain, Emmanuel Joseph Sieyès, Charles XIII of Sweden, Adam Weishaupt, Claude Louis Berthollet, Antoine Laurent de Jussieu, William V, Prince of Orange, Johann Friedrich Gmelin, and Christian Gottlob Neefe. Among people deceased in 1832, Jeremy Bentham ranks 6Before him are Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Napoleon II, Jean-François Champollion, Évariste Galois, and Walter Scott. After him are Georges Cuvier, Nicolas Léonard Sadi Carnot, Jean-Baptiste Say, Muzio Clementi, Rasmus Rask, and Friedrich Kuhlau.

Others Born in 1748

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Others Deceased in 1832

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In United Kingdom

Among people born in United Kingdom, Jeremy Bentham ranks 107 out of 8,785Before him are Edward Elgar (1857), Jane Seymour (1508), Christopher Lee (1922), Liam Neeson (1952), Princess Beatrice of the United Kingdom (1857), and George V (1865). After him are Roger Bacon (1220), Terry Pratchett (1948), Ian McKellen (1939), H. G. Wells (1866), Maggie Smith (1934), and Ada Lovelace (1815).

Among PHILOSOPHERS In United Kingdom

Among philosophers born in United Kingdom, Jeremy Bentham ranks 7Before him are Francis Bacon (1561), John Locke (1632), Thomas Hobbes (1588), David Hume (1711), Thomas More (1478), and Herbert Spencer (1820). After him are Roger Bacon (1220), William of Ockham (1285), John Venn (1834), Joseph Priestley (1733), Duns Scotus (1265), and John Wycliffe (1324).