Jeremy Bentham on Open Government and Privacy

This article sketches the key political dimensions of Jeremy Bentham's utilitarianism, focusing particularly on the central importance that he placed on freedom of information as a necessary condition for the effective monitoring of public officials by civil society groups and individual citize...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of information ethics 2017-04, Vol.26 (1), p.112
Main Author: Tyler, Colin
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Bentham, Jeremy (1748-1832)
Civil society
Contemporary problems
Freedom of information
Language attitudes
Metaphor
Political theory
Politics
Privacy
Public officials
Social criticism & satire
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Summary:This article sketches the key political dimensions of Jeremy Bentham's utilitarianism, focusing particularly on the central importance that he placed on freedom of information as a necessary condition for the effective monitoring of public officials by civil society groups and individual citizens. Section one introduces Bentham as a pivotal radical thinker of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. Section two outlines the critical dimensions of Bentham's political theory, particularly the need to debunk metaphorical and obscure language so as to enable citizens to understand the real forces and interests at work in their world. Section three turns to his later constitutional theory, emphasizing its radically democratic elements. Section four focuses on Bentham's theory of open government, emphasizing its reliance on public scrutiny of the actions of office-holders, a function that he assigned to what he called the Public Opinion Tribunal. Section five analyzes the place that he ascribed to personal privacy through a discussion of his liberal attitude to sexual practices. Section six reflects on the cogency and contemporary relevance of Bentham's theory.
ISSN:1061-9321
1941-2894