"Anarchical Fallacies": Bentham's attack on human rights

Human Rights Quarterly

Volumn 22, Issue 1, 2000, Pages 261-279

  Bedau, Hugo Adam ^a,b  

^a TUFTS UNIVERSITY   (United States)

^b Harvard Dental School   (United States)

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[No Author keywords available]

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EID: 10044283331     PISSN: 02750392     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1353/hrq.2000.0003     Document Type: Article

References (78)

1. Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adopted 10 Dec. 1948, G.A. Res. 217A (III), U.N. GAOR, 3d Sess. (Resolutions, pt. 1), at 71, U.M. Doc. A/810 (1948), reprinted in 43 AM. J. INT'L L. 127 (Supp. 1949).
2. Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adopted 10 Dec. 1948, G.A. Res. 217A (III), U.N. GAOR, 3d Sess. (Resolutions, pt. 1), at 71, U.M. Doc. A/810 (1948), reprinted in 43 AM. J. INT'L L. 127 (Supp. 1949).
3. In the ensuing discussion, I make no distinction between the concepts of natural rights and human rights. For a discussion of the differences, see JAMES NICKEL, MAKING SENSE OF HUMAN RIGHTS: PHILOSOPHICAL REFLECTIONS ON THE UNIVERSAL DECLARATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS 6-12 (1987).
4. 2 JEREMY BENTHAM, Anarchical Fallacies; Being An Examination of the Declarations of Rights Issued During the French Revolution By Jeremy Bentham, in THE WORKS OF JEREMY BENTHAM 489 (John Bowring ed., 1843) [hereinafter Anarchical Fallacies] . I am grateful to Philip Schofield of the Bentham Project for informing me that Bentham did not choose the phrase "Anarchical Fallacies" as the title for this work; "Anarchical Fallacies" was the choice of his translator and editor, Étienne Dumont, who first published the work as Sophismes anarchiques. (I am grateful to Catherine Pease-Watkin for this reference.) See 2 JEREMY BENTHAM, TACTIQUE DES ASSEMBLEES LEGISLATIVES, SUIVIE D'UN TRAITE DES SOPHISMES POLITIQUES 271 (1816). Bowring merely translated that title for his English version. For Bowring's remarks on this treatise, see John Bowring, Memoirs of Jeremy Bentham Including Autobiographical Conversations and Correspondence, in 10 THE WORKS OF JEREMY BENTHAM 1, 497-98 (John Bowring ed., 1843). See also SADAO IDEDA ET AL., A BIBLIOGRAPHICAL CATALOGUE OF THE WORKS OF JEREMY BENTHMI 24, 146-47 (1989). Bentham's prefed title was "Nonsense Upon Stilts." In this light, some of the criticisms in the text below are best construed under the title aimed at Dumont (for inventing this title) and Bowring apparently (for preserving and popularizing it in translation). However, Bentham did occasionally use the phrase "anarchical fallacies" to refer to a species of political fallacy but without any reference to the French "Declaration." See J.H. Burns, Bentham and the French Revolution, 16 TRANS. ROYAL HIST. SOC'Y 95, 111 n.2 (5th ser. 1966). In his correspondence with Dumont concerning the translation and publication of this treatise, he refed to it as his "commentary on the Declaration of Rights." Letter (1345) from Jeremy Bentham to Étienne Dumont (28 or 29 June 1798), in 6 JEREMY BENTHAM, THE CORRESPONDENCE OF JEREMY BENTHAM 49 U.R. Dinwiddy ed., 1984) [hereinafter 6 CORRESPONDENCE].
5. 2 JEREMY BENTHAM, Anarchical Fallacies; Being An Examination of the Declarations of Rights Issued During the French Revolution By Jeremy Bentham, in THE WORKS OF JEREMY BENTHAM 489 (John Bowring ed., 1843) [hereinafter Anarchical Fallacies] . I am grateful to Philip Schofield of the Bentham Project for informing me that Bentham did not choose the phrase "Anarchical Fallacies" as the title for this work; "Anarchical Fallacies" was the choice of his translator and editor, Étienne Dumont, who first published the work as Sophismes anarchiques. (I am grateful to Catherine Pease-Watkin for this reference.) See 2 JEREMY BENTHAM, TACTIQUE DES ASSEMBLEES LEGISLATIVES, SUIVIE D'UN TRAITE DES SOPHISMES POLITIQUES 271 (1816). Bowring merely translated that title for his English version. For Bowring's remarks on this treatise, see John Bowring, Memoirs of Jeremy Bentham Including Autobiographical Conversations and Correspondence, in 10 THE WORKS OF JEREMY BENTHAM 1, 497-98 (John Bowring ed., 1843). See also SADAO IDEDA ET AL., A BIBLIOGRAPHICAL CATALOGUE OF THE WORKS OF JEREMY BENTHMI 24, 146-47 (1989). Bentham's prefed title was "Nonsense Upon Stilts." In this light, some of the criticisms in the text below are best construed under the title aimed at Dumont (for inventing this title) and Bowring apparently (for preserving and popularizing it in translation). However, Bentham did occasionally use the phrase "anarchical fallacies" to refer to a species of political fallacy but without any reference to the French "Declaration." See J.H. Burns, Bentham and the French Revolution, 16 TRANS. ROYAL HIST. SOC'Y 95, 111 n.2 (5th ser. 1966). In his correspondence with Dumont concerning the translation and publication of this treatise, he refed to it as his "commentary on the Declaration of Rights." Letter (1345) from Jeremy Bentham to Étienne Dumont (28 or 29 June 1798), in 6 JEREMY BENTHAM, THE CORRESPONDENCE OF JEREMY BENTHAM 49 U.R. Dinwiddy ed., 1984) [hereinafter 6 CORRESPONDENCE].
6. 2 JEREMY BENTHAM, Anarchical Fallacies; Being An Examination of the Declarations of Rights Issued During the French Revolution By Jeremy Bentham, in THE WORKS OF JEREMY BENTHAM 489 (John Bowring ed., 1843) [hereinafter Anarchical Fallacies] . I am grateful to Philip Schofield of the Bentham Project for informing me that Bentham did not choose the phrase "Anarchical Fallacies" as the title for this work; "Anarchical Fallacies" was the choice of his translator and editor, Étienne Dumont, who first published the work as Sophismes anarchiques. (I am grateful to Catherine Pease-Watkin for this reference.) See 2 JEREMY BENTHAM, TACTIQUE DES ASSEMBLEES LEGISLATIVES, SUIVIE D'UN TRAITE DES SOPHISMES POLITIQUES 271 (1816). Bowring merely translated that title for his English version. For Bowring's remarks on this treatise, see John Bowring, Memoirs of Jeremy Bentham Including Autobiographical Conversations and Correspondence, in 10 THE WORKS OF JEREMY BENTHAM 1, 497-98 (John Bowring ed., 1843). See also SADAO IDEDA ET AL., A BIBLIOGRAPHICAL CATALOGUE OF THE WORKS OF JEREMY BENTHMI 24, 146-47 (1989). Bentham's prefed title was "Nonsense Upon Stilts." In this light, some of the criticisms in the text below are best construed under the title aimed at Dumont (for inventing this title) and Bowring apparently (for preserving and popularizing it in translation). However, Bentham did occasionally use the phrase "anarchical fallacies" to refer to a species of political fallacy but without any reference to the French "Declaration." See J.H. Burns, Bentham and the French Revolution, 16 TRANS. ROYAL HIST. SOC'Y 95, 111 n.2 (5th ser. 1966). In his correspondence with Dumont concerning the translation and publication of this treatise, he refed to it as his "commentary on the Declaration of Rights." Letter (1345) from Jeremy Bentham to Étienne Dumont (28 or 29 June 1798), in 6 JEREMY BENTHAM, THE CORRESPONDENCE OF JEREMY BENTHAM 49 U.R. Dinwiddy ed., 1984) [hereinafter 6 CORRESPONDENCE].
7. 2 JEREMY BENTHAM, Anarchical Fallacies; Being An Examination of the Declarations of Rights Issued During the French Revolution By Jeremy Bentham, in THE WORKS OF JEREMY BENTHAM 489 (John Bowring ed., 1843) [hereinafter Anarchical Fallacies] . I am grateful to Philip Schofield of the Bentham Project for informing me that Bentham did not choose the phrase "Anarchical Fallacies" as the title for this work; "Anarchical Fallacies" was the choice of his translator and editor, Étienne Dumont, who first published the work as Sophismes anarchiques. (I am grateful to Catherine Pease-Watkin for this reference.) See 2 JEREMY BENTHAM, TACTIQUE DES ASSEMBLEES LEGISLATIVES, SUIVIE D'UN TRAITE DES SOPHISMES POLITIQUES 271 (1816). Bowring merely translated that title for his English version. For Bowring's remarks on this treatise, see John Bowring, Memoirs of Jeremy Bentham Including Autobiographical Conversations and Correspondence, in 10 THE WORKS OF JEREMY BENTHAM 1, 497-98 (John Bowring ed., 1843). See also SADAO IDEDA ET AL., A BIBLIOGRAPHICAL CATALOGUE OF THE WORKS OF JEREMY BENTHMI 24, 146-47 (1989). Bentham's prefed title was "Nonsense Upon Stilts." In this light, some of the criticisms in the text below are best construed under the title aimed at Dumont (for inventing this title) and Bowring apparently (for preserving and popularizing it in translation). However, Bentham did occasionally use the phrase "anarchical fallacies" to refer to a species of political fallacy but without any reference to the French "Declaration." See J.H. Burns, Bentham and the French Revolution, 16 TRANS. ROYAL HIST. SOC'Y 95, 111 n.2 (5th ser. 1966). In his correspondence with Dumont concerning the translation and publication of this treatise, he refed to it as his "commentary on the Declaration of Rights." Letter (1345) from Jeremy Bentham to Étienne Dumont (28 or 29 June 1798), in 6 JEREMY BENTHAM, THE CORRESPONDENCE OF JEREMY BENTHAM 49 U.R. Dinwiddy ed., 1984) [hereinafter 6 CORRESPONDENCE].
8. 2 JEREMY BENTHAM, Anarchical Fallacies; Being An Examination of the Declarations of Rights Issued During the French Revolution By Jeremy Bentham, in THE WORKS OF JEREMY BENTHAM 489 (John Bowring ed., 1843) [hereinafter Anarchical Fallacies] . I am grateful to Philip Schofield of the Bentham Project for informing me that Bentham did not choose the phrase "Anarchical Fallacies" as the title for this work; "Anarchical Fallacies" was the choice of his translator and editor, Étienne Dumont, who first published the work as Sophismes anarchiques. (I am grateful to Catherine Pease-Watkin for this reference.) See 2 JEREMY BENTHAM, TACTIQUE DES ASSEMBLEES LEGISLATIVES, SUIVIE D'UN TRAITE DES SOPHISMES POLITIQUES 271 (1816). Bowring merely translated that title for his English version. For Bowring's remarks on this treatise, see John Bowring, Memoirs of Jeremy Bentham Including Autobiographical Conversations and Correspondence, in 10 THE WORKS OF JEREMY BENTHAM 1, 497-98 (John Bowring ed., 1843). See also SADAO IDEDA ET AL., A BIBLIOGRAPHICAL CATALOGUE OF THE WORKS OF JEREMY BENTHMI 24, 146-47 (1989). Bentham's prefed title was "Nonsense Upon Stilts." In this light, some of the criticisms in the text below are best construed under the title aimed at Dumont (for inventing this title) and Bowring apparently (for preserving and popularizing it in translation). However, Bentham did occasionally use the phrase "anarchical fallacies" to refer to a species of political fallacy but without any reference to the French "Declaration." See J.H. Burns, Bentham and the French Revolution, 16 TRANS. ROYAL HIST. SOC'Y 95, 111 n.2 (5th ser. 1966). In his correspondence with Dumont concerning the translation and publication of this treatise, he refed to it as his "commentary on the Declaration of Rights." Letter (1345) from Jeremy Bentham to Étienne Dumont (28 or 29 June 1798), in 6 JEREMY BENTHAM, THE CORRESPONDENCE OF JEREMY BENTHAM 49 U.R. Dinwiddy ed., 1984) [hereinafter 6 CORRESPONDENCE].
9. 2 JEREMY BENTHAM, Anarchical Fallacies; Being An Examination of the Declarations of Rights Issued During the French Revolution By Jeremy Bentham, in THE WORKS OF JEREMY BENTHAM 489 (John Bowring ed., 1843) [hereinafter Anarchical Fallacies] . I am grateful to Philip Schofield of the Bentham Project for informing me that Bentham did not choose the phrase "Anarchical Fallacies" as the title for this work; "Anarchical Fallacies" was the choice of his translator and editor, Étienne Dumont, who first published the work as Sophismes anarchiques. (I am grateful to Catherine Pease-Watkin for this reference.) See 2 JEREMY BENTHAM, TACTIQUE DES ASSEMBLEES LEGISLATIVES, SUIVIE D'UN TRAITE DES SOPHISMES POLITIQUES 271 (1816). Bowring merely translated that title for his English version. For Bowring's remarks on this treatise, see John Bowring, Memoirs of Jeremy Bentham Including Autobiographical Conversations and Correspondence, in 10 THE WORKS OF JEREMY BENTHAM 1, 497-98 (John Bowring ed., 1843). See also SADAO IDEDA ET AL., A BIBLIOGRAPHICAL CATALOGUE OF THE WORKS OF JEREMY BENTHMI 24, 146-47 (1989). Bentham's prefed title was "Nonsense Upon Stilts." In this light, some of the criticisms in the text below are best construed under the title aimed at Dumont (for inventing this title) and Bowring apparently (for preserving and popularizing it in translation). However, Bentham did occasionally use the phrase "anarchical fallacies" to refer to a species of political fallacy but without any reference to the French "Declaration." See J.H. Burns, Bentham and the French Revolution, 16 TRANS. ROYAL HIST. SOC'Y 95, 111 n.2 (5th ser. 1966). In his correspondence with Dumont concerning the translation and publication of this treatise, he refed to it as his "commentary on the Declaration of Rights." Letter (1345) from Jeremy Bentham to Étienne Dumont (28 or 29 June 1798), in 6 JEREMY BENTHAM, THE CORRESPONDENCE OF JEREMY BENTHAM 49 U.R. Dinwiddy ed., 1984) [hereinafter 6 CORRESPONDENCE].
10. 2 JEREMY BENTHAM, Anarchical Fallacies; Being An Examination of the Declarations of Rights Issued During the French Revolution By Jeremy Bentham, in THE WORKS OF JEREMY BENTHAM 489 (John Bowring ed., 1843) [hereinafter Anarchical Fallacies] . I am grateful to Philip Schofield of the Bentham Project for informing me that Bentham did not choose the phrase "Anarchical Fallacies" as the title for this work; "Anarchical Fallacies" was the choice of his translator and editor, Étienne Dumont, who first published the work as Sophismes anarchiques. (I am grateful to Catherine Pease-Watkin for this reference.) See 2 JEREMY BENTHAM, TACTIQUE DES ASSEMBLEES LEGISLATIVES, SUIVIE D'UN TRAITE DES SOPHISMES POLITIQUES 271 (1816). Bowring merely translated that title for his English version. For Bowring's remarks on this treatise, see John Bowring, Memoirs of Jeremy Bentham Including Autobiographical Conversations and Correspondence, in 10 THE WORKS OF JEREMY BENTHAM 1, 497-98 (John Bowring ed., 1843). See also SADAO IDEDA ET AL., A BIBLIOGRAPHICAL CATALOGUE OF THE WORKS OF JEREMY BENTHMI 24, 146-47 (1989). Bentham's prefed title was "Nonsense Upon Stilts." In this light, some of the criticisms in the text below are best construed under the title aimed at Dumont (for inventing this title) and Bowring apparently (for preserving and popularizing it in translation). However, Bentham did occasionally use the phrase "anarchical fallacies" to refer to a species of political fallacy but without any reference to the French "Declaration." See J.H. Burns, Bentham and the French Revolution, 16 TRANS. ROYAL HIST. SOC'Y 95, 111 n.2 (5th ser. 1966). In his correspondence with Dumont concerning the translation and publication of this treatise, he refed to it as his "commentary on the Declaration of Rights." Letter (1345) from Jeremy Bentham to Étienne Dumont (28 or 29 June 1798), in 6 JEREMY BENTHAM, THE CORRESPONDENCE OF JEREMY BENTHAM 49 U.R. Dinwiddy ed., 1984) [hereinafter 6 CORRESPONDENCE].
11. For the full text of the 1793 Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen, see Sherman Kent, The Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen, in GREAT EXPRESSIONS OF HUMAN RIGHTS 262-65 (R.M. Maclver ed., 1969) (1950).
12. See Anarchical Fallacies, supra note 3, at 490. For Bentham's recollected date of composition of this work, see Letter (1636) from Jeremy Bentham to William Cobbett (30 June 1801), in 6 CORRESPONDENCE, supra note 3, at 408, 409. A truly scholarly text of this essay, based on the surviving manuscripts in the archives of University College London, is now being prepared at UCL's Bentham Project.
13. See Anarchical Fallacies, supra note 3, at 490. For Bentham's recollected date of composition of this work, see Letter (1636) from Jeremy Bentham to William Cobbett (30 June 1801), in 6 CORRESPONDENCE, supra note 3, at 408, 409. A truly scholarly text of this essay, based on the surviving manuscripts in the archives of University College London, is now being prepared at UCL's Bentham Project.
14. Anarchical Fallacies, supra note 3, at 501. We do know what Bentham thought of the natural rights mentioned in the American "Declaration of Independence." In a letter to John Lind in September 1776, he denounces it for the "extravagance" of its "tenets," notably its reliance upon "inalienable" rights. Letter (179a) from Jeremy Bentham to John Lind (2(?) Sept. 1776), in 1 JEREMY BENTHAM, THE CORRESPONDENCE OF JEREMY BENTHAM 341, 343 (Timothy L.S. Sprigge ed., 1968). I am indebted to Catherine Fuller for drawing this letter to my attention.
15. Anarchical Fallacies, supra note 3, at 501. We do know what Bentham thought of the natural rights mentioned in the American "Declaration of Independence." In a letter to John Lind in September 1776, he denounces it for the "extravagance" of its "tenets," notably its reliance upon "inalienable" rights. Letter (179a) from Jeremy Bentham to John Lind (2(?) Sept. 1776), in 1 JEREMY BENTHAM, THE CORRESPONDENCE OF JEREMY BENTHAM 341, 343 (Timothy L.S. Sprigge ed., 1968). I am indebted to Catherine Fuller for drawing this letter to my attention.
16. For recent discussions of the origin and circumstances of the drafting of the French Declaration, see THE FRENCH REVOLUTION AND HUMAN RIGHTS: A BRIEF DOCUMENTARY HISTORY (Lynn Hunt ed., 1996); Kent, supra note 4, at 145-81.
17. Bentham says he takes for his text "the paper published . . . by the French National Assembly of 1791 [.]" Anarchical Fallacies, supra note 3, at 496. This "paper" of 1791 is identical with the "Declaration" of 1789; where the 1789 text stood as a complete document in its own right, the 1791 version is simply the 1789 text placed as a preamble to the French Constitution of 1791. The English translation of the "Declaration" Bentham quotes appears to be his own.
18. For discussion of Bentham's essay, see JEREMY WAIDRON, "NONSENSE UPON STILTS": BENTHAM, BURKE, AND MARX ON THE RIGHTS OF MAN 29-45 (1987); Ross HARRISON, BENTHAM 77-105 (1983); William Twining, The Contemporary Significance of Bentham's Anarchical Fallacies, 61 ARKIV FÜR RECHTS UND SOCIALPHILOSOPHIE, 325-55 (1975), reprinted in 3 JEREMY BENTHAM: CRITICAL ASSESSMENTS at 700-26 (Bhikhu Parekh ed., 1993); H.L.A. Hart, Natural Rights: Bentham and John Stuart Mill, reprinted in H.L.A. HART, ESSAYS ON BENTHAM: STUDIES IN JURISPRUDENCE AND SOCIAL THEORY 79-104 (1982).
19. For discussion of Bentham's essay, see JEREMY WAIDRON, "NONSENSE UPON STILTS": BENTHAM, BURKE, AND MARX ON THE RIGHTS OF MAN 29-45 (1987); Ross HARRISON, BENTHAM 77-105 (1983); William Twining, The Contemporary Significance of Bentham's Anarchical Fallacies, 61 ARKIV FÜR RECHTS UND SOCIALPHILOSOPHIE, 325-55 (1975), reprinted in 3 JEREMY BENTHAM: CRITICAL ASSESSMENTS at 700-26 (Bhikhu Parekh ed., 1993); H.L.A. Hart, Natural Rights: Bentham and John Stuart Mill, reprinted in H.L.A. HART, ESSAYS ON BENTHAM: STUDIES IN JURISPRUDENCE AND SOCIAL THEORY 79-104 (1982).
20. For discussion of Bentham's essay, see JEREMY WAIDRON, "NONSENSE UPON STILTS": BENTHAM, BURKE, AND MARX ON THE RIGHTS OF MAN 29-45 (1987); Ross HARRISON, BENTHAM 77-105 (1983); William Twining, The Contemporary Significance of Bentham's Anarchical Fallacies, 61 ARKIV FÜR RECHTS UND SOCIALPHILOSOPHIE, 325-55 (1975), reprinted in 3 JEREMY BENTHAM: CRITICAL ASSESSMENTS at 700-26 (Bhikhu Parekh ed., 1993); H.L.A. Hart, Natural Rights: Bentham and John Stuart Mill, reprinted in H.L.A. HART, ESSAYS ON BENTHAM: STUDIES IN JURISPRUDENCE AND SOCIAL THEORY 79-104 (1982).
21. For discussion of Bentham's essay, see JEREMY WAIDRON, "NONSENSE UPON STILTS": BENTHAM, BURKE, AND MARX ON THE RIGHTS OF MAN 29-45 (1987); Ross HARRISON, BENTHAM 77-105 (1983); William Twining, The Contemporary Significance of Bentham's Anarchical Fallacies, 61 ARKIV FÜR RECHTS UND SOCIALPHILOSOPHIE, 325-55 (1975), reprinted in 3 JEREMY BENTHAM: CRITICAL ASSESSMENTS at 700-26 (Bhikhu Parekh ed., 1993); H.L.A. Hart, Natural Rights: Bentham and John Stuart Mill, reprinted in H.L.A. HART, ESSAYS ON BENTHAM: STUDIES IN JURISPRUDENCE AND SOCIAL THEORY 79-104 (1982).
22. For discussion of Bentham's essay, see JEREMY WAIDRON, "NONSENSE UPON STILTS": BENTHAM, BURKE, AND MARX ON THE RIGHTS OF MAN 29-45 (1987); Ross HARRISON, BENTHAM 77-105 (1983); William Twining, The Contemporary Significance of Bentham's Anarchical Fallacies, 61 ARKIV FÜR RECHTS UND SOCIALPHILOSOPHIE, 325-55 (1975), reprinted in 3 JEREMY BENTHAM: CRITICAL ASSESSMENTS at 700-26 (Bhikhu Parekh ed., 1993); H.L.A. Hart, Natural Rights: Bentham and John Stuart Mill, reprinted in H.L.A. HART, ESSAYS ON BENTHAM: STUDIES IN JURISPRUDENCE AND SOCIAL THEORY 79-104 (1982).
23. THE BOOK OF FALLACIES: FROM UNFINISHED PAPERS OF JEREMY BENTHAM (Peregrine Bingham ed., 1824), reprinted in 2 BENTHAM, supra note 3, at 375. This work was later revised and reprinted as BENTHAM'S HANDBOOK OF POLITICAL FALLACIES (Harold A. Larrabee ed., 1952) [hereinafter BENTHAM'S HANDBOOK]. Quotations in the text are from this version. The version of this passage in the 1824 text is somewhat different from the version appearing in Larabee's edition.
24. THE BOOK OF FALLACIES: FROM UNFINISHED PAPERS OF JEREMY BENTHAM (Peregrine Bingham ed., 1824), reprinted in 2 BENTHAM, supra note 3, at 375. This work was later revised and reprinted as BENTHAM'S HANDBOOK OF POLITICAL FALLACIES (Harold A. Larrabee ed., 1952) [hereinafter BENTHAM'S HANDBOOK]. Quotations in the text are from this version. The version of this passage in the 1824 text is somewhat different from the version appearing in Larabee's edition.
25. THE BOOK OF FALLACIES: FROM UNFINISHED PAPERS OF JEREMY BENTHAM (Peregrine Bingham ed., 1824), reprinted in 2 BENTHAM, supra note 3, at 375. This work was later revised and reprinted as BENTHAM'S HANDBOOK OF POLITICAL FALLACIES (Harold A. Larrabee ed., 1952) [hereinafter BENTHAM'S HANDBOOK]. Quotations in the text are from this version. The version of this passage in the 1824 text is somewhat different from the version appearing in Larabee's edition.
26. Id. at 3.
27. Id.
28. J.H. Burns speculates that the omission is owing to Bentham's change of mind (or heart?) in his later years, causing a desire to avoid provoking his French admirers of the post-Revolutionary era. See J.H. Burns, Bentham's Critique of Political Fallacies, in JEREMY BENTHAM: TEN CRITICAL ESSAYS 154 (Bhikhu Parekh ed., 1974). It is perhaps worth noting that the only fallacy Bentham mentions as such in "Anarchical Fallacies" is the "fallacy" of "begging the question." Anarchical Fallacies, supra note 3, at 496. There is of course, nothing particularly anarchic about this fallacy.
29. J.H. Burns speculates that the omission is owing to Bentham's change of mind (or heart?) in his later years, causing a desire to avoid provoking his French admirers of the post-Revolutionary era. See J.H. Burns, Bentham's Critique of Political Fallacies, in JEREMY BENTHAM: TEN CRITICAL ESSAYS 154 (Bhikhu Parekh ed., 1974). It is perhaps worth noting that the only fallacy Bentham mentions as such in "Anarchical Fallacies" is the "fallacy" of "begging the question." Anarchical Fallacies, supra note 3, at 496. There is of course, nothing particularly anarchic about this fallacy.
30. See BENTHAM'S HANDBOOK, supra note 10, 93.
31. Anarchical Fallacies, supra note 3, at 496.
32. Id. at 522.
33. Id. at 496.
34. Id. at 500. Bentham would have had a stronger case for his objections had he cited the 1793 version of the "Declaration"; its Article 11 declares that the citizen oppressed by "arbitrary and tyrannical" government has the "right to repel it by force." Article 35, with which the "Declaration" closes, repeats the point, declaring that when government "violates the rights of the people, insurrection is . . . the most sacred of rights and the most indispensable of duties." KENT, supra note 4, at 265.
35. We might usefully think of Bentham's idea of "imprescriptible" natural rights as an early version of what today in international law would be called "nonderogable rights." On the latter idea, see PAUL SIEGHART, THE INTERNATIONAL LAW OF HUMAN RIGHTS §11 (1983).
36. For an account of the Tor in late 1793, see R. R. PALMER, THE WORLD OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION (1971); SIMON SCHAMA, CITIZENS: A CHRONICLE OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 726-92 (1989).
37. For an account of the Tor in late 1793, see R. R. PALMER, THE WORLD OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION (1971); SIMON SCHAMA, CITIZENS: A CHRONICLE OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 726-92 (1989).
38. See JOHN RAWLS, A THEORY OF JUSTICE (1972); ELIOT M. ZASHIN, CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE AND DEMOCRACY (1972); BURTON ZWEIBACH, CIVILITY AND DISOBEDIENCE (1975).
39. See JOHN RAWLS, A THEORY OF JUSTICE (1972); ELIOT M. ZASHIN, CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE AND DEMOCRACY (1972); BURTON ZWEIBACH, CIVILITY AND DISOBEDIENCE (1975).
40. See JOHN RAWLS, A THEORY OF JUSTICE (1972); ELIOT M. ZASHIN, CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE AND DEMOCRACY (1972); BURTON ZWEIBACH, CIVILITY AND DISOBEDIENCE (1975).
41. Examples of government officials using their power to crush nonviolent protests include the British in Amritsar in the 1920s, local police across the United States during the anti-union riots of the 1930s, and the Chinese government in Tiananmen Square in the 1980s.
42. Despite the emphasis Simon Schama places on the centrality of "violence" from the very inception of the Revolution, he nowhere tries to explain this violence as an effect of devout belief in the natural rights alleged and advertised in the 1789 Declaration. See SCHAMA, supra note 20. The same silence (neglect?) is found in the works of other recent writers. See, e.g., EMMET KENNEDY, A CULTURAL HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION (1989); WILLIAM DOYLE, THE OXFORD HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION (1989). See also Burns, supra note 3, at 95.
43. Despite the emphasis Simon Schama places on the centrality of "violence" from the very inception of the Revolution, he nowhere tries to explain this violence as an effect of devout belief in the natural rights alleged and advertised in the 1789 Declaration. See SCHAMA, supra note 20. The same silence (neglect?) is found in the works of other recent writers. See, e.g., EMMET KENNEDY, A CULTURAL HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION (1989); WILLIAM DOYLE, THE OXFORD HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION (1989). See also Burns, supra note 3, at 95.
44. No attempt is made in the following pages to give a full statement of Bentham's theory of rights. For a fuller treatment, see WALDRON, supra note 9; Twining, supra note 9, Hart, supra note 9. Nor do I attempt to assess the extent to which his account of rights in "Anarchical Fallacies" is consistent with that fuller view.
45. Anarchical Fallacies, supra note 3, at 501.
46. See JEREMY BENTHAM, DE L'ONTOLOGIE ET AUTRES TEXTES SUR LES FICTIONS 210-15 (Jean-Pie Clero et al eds., 1997) [hereinafter DE L'ONTOLOGIE]. The English text (77-193) in this bilingual edition was prepared by Philip Schofield. For more on paraphrasis, see JEREMY BENTHAM, A FRAGMENT ON GOVERNMENT 108 n.b(5-6) (J.H. Burns & H.L.A. Hart eds., 1988) (1776).
47. See JEREMY BENTHAM, DE L'ONTOLOGIE ET AUTRES TEXTES SUR LES FICTIONS 210-15 (Jean-Pie Clero et al eds., 1997) [hereinafter DE L'ONTOLOGIE]. The English text (77-193) in this bilingual edition was prepared by Philip Schofield. For more on paraphrasis, see JEREMY BENTHAM, A FRAGMENT ON GOVERNMENT 108 n.b(5-6) (J.H. Burns & H.L.A. Hart eds., 1988) (1776).
48. See generally J.O. URMSON, PHILOSOPHICAL ANALYSIS: ITS DEVELOPMENT BETWEEN THE TWO WORLD WARS (1956).
49. Anarchical Fallacies, supra note 3, at 500.
50. For the relationship between the French "Declaration" and the United Nations "Declaration," see Stephen P. Marks, From the "Single Confused Page" to the "Decalogue for Six Billion Persons": The Roots of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in the French Revolution, 20 HUM. RTS. Q. 459 (1998).
51. Anarchical Fallacies, supra note 3, at 502.
52. THOMAS HOBBES, LEVIATHAN 66 (Ernest Rhys ed., 1943) (1651).
53. Anarchical Fallacies, supra note 3, at 502.
54. Id. at 503.
55. See, e.g., JUDITH JARVIS THOMSON, THE REALM OF RIGHTS 41-43 (1990).
56. See id.
57. See DE L'ONTOLOGIE, supra note 26, at 80, 164.
58. Anarchical Fallacies, supra note 3, at 501.
59. RUDOLPH CARNAP, THE LOGICAL SYNTAX OF LANGUAGE 238-39 (1936). On the distinction between use and mention, see W.V.O. QUINE, METHODS OF LOGIC 37-38 (1950).
60. RUDOLPH CARNAP, THE LOGICAL SYNTAX OF LANGUAGE 238-39 (1936). On the distinction between use and mention, see W.V.O. QUINE, METHODS OF LOGIC 37-38 (1950).
61. See JEREMY BENTHAM, AN INTRODUCTION TO THE PRINCIPLES OF MORALS AND LEGISLATION 294 (J.H. Burns & H.L.A. Hart eds., 1970) (1780).
62. See id.
63. See IMMANUEL KANT, THE METAPHYSICAL FOUNDATIONS OF MORALS §§ 2&3 (James W. Ellington, trans., 3d ed. 1993) (1785).
64. See DE L'ONTOLOGIE, supra note 26, at 80, 164.
65. This claim is perhaps more plausible if formulated - as Bentham often does - in terms of pleasure and pain; these are often if not always genuine sensations whereas happiness rarely, if ever, is a sensation or complex of sensations.
66. Anarchical Fallacies, supra note 3, at 501.
67. See NICKEL, supra note 2, at 84-98.
68. See THOMSON, supra note 34, at 214-17, 222-24, 269-70, 271.
69. See Anarchical Fallacies, supra note 3, at 523.
70. Id.
71. See JOHN STUART MILL, UTILITARIANISM ch. 5 (Roger Crisp ed., Oxford University Press 1998) (1861).
72. See RICHARD B. BRANDT, MORALITY, UTILITARIANISM, AND RIGHTS 179-95 (1993); L. W. SUMNER, THE MORAL FOUNDATION OF RIGHTS (1987).
73. See RICHARD B. BRANDT, MORALITY, UTILITARIANISM, AND RIGHTS 179-95 (1993); L. W. SUMNER, THE MORAL FOUNDATION OF RIGHTS (1987).
74. See KANT, supra note 41.
75. For an exception to this generalization, see ALAN GEWIRTH, HUMAN RIGHTS: ESSAYS ON JUSTIFICATION AND APPLICATIONS 208-33 (1982). For a criticism of the doctrine of absolute rights, see THOMSON, supra note 34, at 82-87.
76. For an exception to this generalization, see ALAN GEWIRTH, HUMAN RIGHTS: ESSAYS ON JUSTIFICATION AND APPLICATIONS 208-33 (1982). For a criticism of the doctrine of absolute rights, see THOMSON, supra note 34, at 82-87.
77. MILL, supra note 49, at 106 (emphasis in original).
78. See RONALD DWORKIN, Introduction to TAKING RIGHTS SERIOUSLY at vii, xi, xv (1977).