History Of Human Rights Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

History Of Human Rights - Essay ExampleWestminster School and at the age of dozen was sent off to Oxford (Queens College). From 1763, he studied jurisprudence at Lincolns Inn and was called to the bar in 1772. Jeremy Bentham was an face philosopher and political radical. Although he never pr comeiced law, he spent most of his life critiquing the existing law and strongly advocating legal reform. Bentham is primarily known today for his moral philosophy, especially his principle of utilitarianism which evaluates actions based upon their consequences, in particular the overall happiness created for everyone affected by the action. He maintained that putting this principle into reconciled practice would provide justification for social, political, and legal institutions. Although Benthams influence was minor during his life, his impact was greater in ulterior years as his ideas were carried on by followers such as John Stuart Mill, John Austin, and early(a) consequentialists.Durin g 1776, Bentham brought out his first major work, A Fragment on Government.3 It was about this time, too, that Bentham was to become a partner with a powerful lord, Lord Shelburne (1737-1805). Apparently, through the auspices of Lord Shelburne, Bentham was able to take time, to travel and to write.He Bentham has lived for the last f... His eye is quick and lively but it glances not from object to object, but from thought to thought. He is evidently a man occupied with roughly train of fine and inward association. He regards the spate about him no more than the flies of summer. He meditates the coming age. He hears and sees only what suits his purpose, or almost foregone conclusion and looks out for facts and passing occurrences in order to put them into his logical machinery and grind them into the dust and powder of some subtle theory, as the miller looks out for grist to his mill (William Hazlitt.)Benthams PhilosophyJeremy Bentham figured that laws should be socially efficaci ous and not merely reflect the status quo and, that while he believed that men inevitably pursue enjoyment and avoid pain, Bentham thought it to be a sacred truth that the greatest happiness of the greatest payoff is the foundation of morals and legislation. Bentham supposed that the whole of morality could be derived from enlightened self-interest, and that a person who unendingly acted with a view to his own maximum satisfaction in the long run would always act rightly. Bentham is to be compared to William Godwin they resembled one another in their blind contempt for the past. While each preached the need for peaceable revolution, each had a different following. Benthams revolution was to be effected by legislation, Godwins by argument.French transmutation-The French Revolution (1789-1799) was a pivotal period in the history of French, European and Western civilization. During this time, republicanism replaced the coercive monarchy in France, and the countrys Roman Catholic Church was forced to undergo a radical restructuring. While France would hesitate among republic, empire, and