Bentham and the Arts
Anthony Julius · Malcolm Quinn · Philip Schofield
May 2020 · UCL Press
Ebook
324
Pages
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About this ebook
Bentham and the Arts considers the sceptical challenge presented by Bentham’s hedonistic utilitarianism to the existence of the aesthetic, as represented in the oft-quoted statement that, ‘Prejudice apart, the game of push-pin is of equal value with the arts and sciences of music and poetry. If the game of push-pin furnish more pleasure, it is more valuable than either.’ This statement is one part of a complex set of arguments on culture, taste, and utility that Bentham pursued over his lifetime, in which sensations of pleasure and pain were opposed to aesthetic sensibility. Leading scholars from a variety of disciplines reflect on the implications of Bentham’s radical utilitarian approach for our understanding of the history and contemporary nature of art, literature, and aesthetics more generally.
About the author
Anthony Julius is Professor of Law and the Arts, UCL, and Deputy Chairman of law firm Mishcon de Reya. His book on arts censorship in liberal democracy will be published by Oxford University Press in 2021.
Malcolm Quinn is Professor of Cultural and Political History and Associate Dean of Research for Camberwell, Chelsea and Wimbledon, University of the Arts London. He is the author of Utilitarianism and the Art School in Nineteenth-Century Britain (2013) and is General Editor of The Persistence of Taste (2018).
Philip Schofield is Director of the Bentham Project, Faculty of Laws, UCL, and General Editor of the new authoritative edition of The Collected Works of Jeremy Bentham.
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