French liberal economists share a very surprising reading of Bentham's theory. In this paper, we underline the method according to which these economists understand Bentham's utilitarianism: they consider that utilitarianism deals with 'utility' but disregards justice. Such an interpretation...

This article aims at showing how Bentham addressed the modern issue of the economic efficiency of the law (as defined by Posner) ; to do that, we focus on Defence of Usury [1787] and the manuscript Sur les prix [1801a] : in 1787, Bentham stated that, in order to increase wealth, the rate of...

<title>Abstract</title> After David Ricardo had argued against it, Jeremy Bentham's manuscript <italic>Sur les prix</italic> was never published. Our paper deals with the reasons of that disagreement. After having told the story of the manuscript, we compare its content and the critiques on both the positive analysis of the...

[eng] La théorie monétaire de Bentham, telle qu'elle apparaît dans le manuscrit Sur les prix (1801) met l'accent sur la notion de confiance, élément clef dans la détermination de la valeur du papier-monnaie. Il en résulte une analyse qui s'intéresse de manière prioritaire à la...

This paper aims at exploring, in a formal way, Bentham's statement that 'the pleasure of gaining is not equal to the evil of losing', which belongs to those aspects of the principle of utility left aside by Jevons' reconstruction. Consequently, the agent's preference order will be viewed as...

This chapter discusses the possible influence of Bentham on Ricardo's economics through three rendez-vous. The first one was mediated by James Mill: we show that (i) if Mill ever had an influence on Ricardo early in their relationship, he was not yet Benthamian, and (ii) if this influence was to...