POLS 250 Lecture Notes - John Stuart Mill, Legal Positivism, Consequentialism
16 Sep 2013
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Pols250 winter term notes secret slide part 3 (jeremy bentham) The existence of law is on reality; its merit and demerit is another . An unjust law is no law at all (natural law tradition- st. augustine) If something is unjust then it doesn"t have the status of being a law) Benthams radical suggestion: distinguish between descriptive and critical jurisprudence. Obligation is not grounded on social contract. Talk of natural rights is nonsense on stilts . Secret slide 2: bentham and utilitarianism. Radical critic of the legal system in england. Utilitarianism: the right action/policy is that which produces the greatest happiness of the greatest number (the third dominant moral prism) What makes an action/policy right or wrong is its consequences. The consequences that matter for bentham are pain and pleasure. Democratic reform: requires by the greatest happiness principle. There is no other political system that will yield more pleasure and less pain (quite a radical proposal at that time)
