The French Revolution and the Creation of Benthamism

by Blamires, Cyprian

• ISBN13: 9780230554221
• ISBN10: 0230554229
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2008-08-15
• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan

Summary

This is the first study of how Genevan Etienne Dumont, and his traumatic experience of the French Revolution, shaped the reception and presentation of "Benthamism" and masked the true face of Jeremy Bentham, one of the architects of modern society who visualized a new world based on the values of transparency, accountability, and economy.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements	p. ix
List of Abbreviations	p. xii
Introduction	p. 1
Utilitarianism and Panopticism: The Umbilical Cord	p. 16
Panopticon: The Puzzle	p. 17
Panopticon: The Reality	p. 32
Dumont the Mythmaker	p. 43
Panopticon Dominates Bentham's Existence	p. 48
The origins and ethos of Panopticon	p. 48
Bentham the entrepreneur	p. 56
Defeat is in the air	p. 84
The Creator of the Bentham Brand: (1) Dumont the Genevan	p. 95
Eighteenth-century Geneva: Nationalists versus aristocrats	p. 96
Rousseau: Icon of Genevan nationalism	p. 102
From Protestantism to 'virtuism'	p. 115
Dumont's youth and disillusioned departure from Geneva	p. 120
The Creator of the Bentham Brand: (2) Dumont in the French Revolution	p. 132
Mirabeau	p. 132
The Revolution begins	p. 147
The Declaration of Rights	p. 160
Dumont tires of the Revolution	p. 171
Dumont and Mirabeau: the last act	p. 177
The Creator of the Bentham Brand: (3) First Steps in Marketing	p. 181
Dumont's early abstracts of Bentham	p. 181
Panopticon and Political Tactics	p. 194
Dumont's Goodbye to Revolution: 1791-1793	p. 200
Genevan interlude	p. 200
First Parisian interlude	p. 202
Talleyrand in London	p. 203
Second Parisian interlude	p. 205
The Groenvelt Letters and Dumont's conversion to utilitarianism	p. 210
The September massacres	p. 219
In power in Geneva	p. 221
Theory of Legislation (1): The Gestation of the Traites, 1793-1802	p. 233
Dumont starts work on Bentham's manuscripts	p. 233
1799: The writing of the Souvenirs	p. 242
The publication of the Traites	p. 244
Theory of Legislation (2): The Message of the Traites	p. 254
Content of the Traites	p. 254
Dumont's agenda in the Traites	p. 283
The Code Napoleon: A parallel project	p. 288
The Impact of the Traites: Benthamism goes Global	p. 292
The impact of the Traites	p. 292
Dumont after 1802	p. 300
Dumont's long-term influence in the English-speaking world	p. 307
Conclusion	p. 313
Notes	p. 315
Bibliography	p. 391
Index	p. 425
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