| Summary: | The aim of the Bentham Project is to produce a new scholarly edition of the works and correspondence of Jeremy Bentham (1748-1832), the influential jurist, philosopher and social scientist, whom A.J.P. Taylor described as 'the most formidable reasoner who ever applied his gifts to the practical questions of administration and politics'. The case for producing a new edition of Bentham's works rests partly on the importance of his thought, and partly on the inadequate and incomplete fashion in which his works were previously published. His writings are remarkable for their range, originality and influence. He was one of the greatest reformers, perhaps the greatest, in the history of English law. He was a major thinker in the disciplines of legal and political philosophy, ethics, public administration, social policy and economics. He has been recognised, too, as a pioneer in other fields ranging from international law and the birth control movement to motivational psychology and deontic logic. The task of producing the new edition is a daunting one. It involves the exploration of a very substantial body of manuscript material, the principal collections being those of University College London and the British Library. Since 1968, twenty-five volumes of the new Collected Works have been published under the auspices of the Bentham Committee. It is envisaged that when complete the edition will comprise approximately seventy volumes, of which fourteen will be devoted to Bentham's correspondence. Such an edition will, it is hoped, make available a fuller and more inclusive view of Bentham's thought and of his contribution to the science of man and society than has been possible hitherto.
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