Description
In the Introduction to the Principles of Morals and Legislation (1789), Bentham strove æto cut a new road through the wilds of jurisprudenceÆ. Laws should be socially useful and not merely reflect the status quo; and, that while he believed that human beings inevitably pursue pleasure and avoid pain, Bentham thought it to be a æsacred truthÆ that æthe greatest happiness of the greatest number is the foundation of morals and legislationÆ.