Bentham as a Theorist of the Rule of Law and His Idea of Universal Interest

I will focus on three chapters of Professor Gerald Postema’s book Utility, Publicity, and Law: Essays on Bentham’s Moral and Legal Philosophy (2019). In these chapters, Postema offered new and compelling interpretations of Bentham’s work, such as his notion that Bentham was a theorist of the rule of law. However, it is difficult to assume that the majority would exercise moral sanctions and control legislators when the interests of the minority are violated by some legislation. Relating to this, I will argue that Bentham was a precursor to the modern theorists who tried to design some architecture for democracy.