| Description |
x, 336 pages ; 25 cm |
| Contents |
Ch. 1. Introduction. Part 1: A Reconstruction of Bentham's constitutionalism. Ch. 2. Sovereignty and the nature of the normativity of law -- Ch. 3. The relativity and plurality of sovereignty -- Ch. 4. The role of the people in determining constitutional limits I: a democratic reading of 'A fragment on government' -- Ch. 5. The role of people in determining constitutional limits II: mature constitutional theory -- Ch. 6. The public opinion tribunal: an analysis of consensus formation and the evolution of communities. Part 2: Utility, Indeterminancy and Harm. Ch. 7. The dynamic connection between ethics and politics -- Ch. 8. Contemporary attempts to bridge the gap between ethics and politics |
| Summary |
The place of utility as a critical theory of human existence has been largely discredited and its potential undermined in the course of modern debates in ethical, political and legal theory. The central intuition that guides the argument of this book is that both the technical and reductionist methodology associated with utilitarianism do not do justice to the theory which identifies the maximisation of pleasure as the most fundamental self-interest of man. Enlarging upon this intuition, the book is mainly concerned with critical constitutionalism. Based on a close reading of Bentham's unpublished and recently published texts, the argument in the first part shows that a critical analysis of constitutonally limited government formed a central theme of Bentham's utilitarian enterprise. The theme of the author's reconstruction is that, for Bentham, constitutional limits signified socially dynamic relationships within the public sphere and between this sphere and a centralised coercive authority. Because this relationship is socially dynamic, the ever-changing communal-based conception of harm constantly transforms the relationship between law and the community which it governs. The second part of the book further develops this reconstruction |
| Bibliography |
Includes bibliographical references and index |
| Subject |
Bentham, Jeremy, 1748-1832.
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Constitutional law -- Philosophy.
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Utilitarianism.
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| LC no. |
2001272906 |
| ISBN |
1841131113 |
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