Letter: Democratic role for Bentham's prisons
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Sir: Colin Welch's absurd portrait of Jeremy Bentham ('Devils that private prisons may release', 3 May) is about 25 years out of date, and it is a pity that it takes so long for the fruits of recent research to filter through to popular journalism.
The next volume in the new edition of the Collected Works, entitled Official Aptitude Maximized, Expense Minimized (to be published by OUP in July), contains several essays on the importance to representative democracy (of which Bentham was a significant early advocate) of having competent, accountable government at a minimum of expense to the electorate. That Bentham believed in privately run prisons was part of the same concern. Such a concern made him neither a capitalist nor a socialist, though both groups have claimed him as one of their own.
As for the comparison with Lenin, it is worth noting that Bentham's skeleton has never needed an armed guard, but resides cheerfully at University College London, where the values he championed in giving his body for medical research are enshrined in the high academic achievements of that institution.
Yours faithfully,
F. ROSEN
Bentham Project
University College London
London, WC1
4 May
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments