Classical utilitarianism and the concept of freedom: A response to the republican critique

References

• Plamenatz , J. 1963 . Man and Society , 2 vols. , London : Longman .
   Google Scholar
• Tully , James , ed. 1988 . Meaning and Context: Quentin Skinner and his Critics , Cambridge : Polity Press . The most recent and considered statement by Professor Skinner of his methodological views is to be found in the concluding essay of
   Google Scholar
• Haywood , J. , Brown , A. and Barry , B. M. , eds. 1999 . “ 'Contextual and non-contextual histories of political thought' ” . In The British Study of Politics: ne Twentieth Century Contribution , 37 – 62 . Oxford : British Academy . For a discussion of the centrality of discussions of the concept of freedom to the methodological debates between 'historians' and 'political theorists' in Britain, see my
   Google Scholar
• MacCallum , G. C. 1967 . 'Negative and positive freedom' . Philosophical Review , 76 : 312 – 334 .
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Gray , T. 1991 . Freedom , 11 – 16 . Basingstoke : Macmillan .
   Google Scholar
• Skinner Liberty Before Liberalism Ref. 6 96-99
   Google Scholar
• Pocock , J. G. A. 1975 . The Machiavellian Moment , 547 Princeton , NJ : Princeton University Press .
   Google Scholar
• Sprigge , T. L. S. , ed. 1968 . The Correspondence ofJeremy Bentham , vol. I , 310 London : Athlone Press .
   Google Scholar
• Bentham Manuscripts, University College, London, box Ixix, fol. 58.
   Google Scholar
• Sidgwick , H. 1919 . The Elements of Politics, , 4th edn. , 45 London : Macmillan .
   Google Scholar
• Sidgwick, ibid., p. 46.
   Google Scholar
• Paley , William . 1819 . “ 'The principles of moral and political philosophy' ” . In The Works of William Paley, D.D. vol. I , 392 London
   Google Scholar
• Kelly , P. J. 1990 . Utilitarianism and Distributive Justice: Jeremy Bentham and the Civil Law , 100 – 103 . Oxford : Clarendon Press . Bentham Manuscripts, University College, London, box c, fol. 156. See the discussion in
   Google Scholar
• Taylor , Charles . 1979 . “ 'What's wrong with negative liberty' ” . In The Idea of Freedom , Edited by: Ryan , A. 175 – 193 . Oxford : Oxford University Press .
   Google Scholar
• Dowding , K. 1992 . 'Choice: its increase and its value' . British Journal of Political Science , 22 : 301 – 314 . Although he approaches the issue from a different perspective, Keith Dowding also challenges the idea of pure choice as intrinsically valuable: see
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Pettit , P. 1997 . Republicanism , Oxford : Clarendon Press . In Liberty Before Liberalism, Skinner abandons direct reference to republican freedom and instead speaks of the neo-Roman theory of free states. This move is in part, I believe, to distinguish his views from those of Philip Pettit, who advances a conception of republican liberty that goes beyond the form of 'instrumental republicanism' that Skinner had earlier championed. See
   Google Scholar
• Long , D. G. 1977 . Bentham and Liberty , Toronto : University of Toronto Press .
   Google Scholar
• Rosen , F. 1983 . Jeremy Bentham and Representative Democracy , Oxford : Clarendon Press .
   Google Scholar
• Rosen , F. 1992 . Bentham, Byron and Greece: Constitutionalism, Nationalism and Early Liberal Political Thought , Oxford : Clarendon Press .
   Google Scholar
• Skinner Liberty Before Liberalism Ref. 6 1-57.
   Google Scholar
• Riley , J. 1998 . Mill on Liberty , London : Routledge . It is interesting that there is one obvious utilitarian thinker who attaches primary value to liberty, namely J. S. Mill, who is not mentioned at all in Skinner's discussion. Whether this is because he does not regard Mill as a proper utilitarian, or because he recognizes that Mill does assume some of the concerns of 'instrumental republicanism', is not clear. What is perhaps distinctive about Mill in relation to the way Skinner treats Bentham, Sidgwick, and also Paley, is that Mill clearly is not simply interested in delimiting a 'concept' of liberty. Mill's position is a more complex theory which gives an account of value but also of the social and political conditions of its maintenance. For the best recent discussion of Mill on freedom, see, Mill clearly offers a social theory of liberty, which is precisely what the utilitarians are accused of ignoring
   Google Scholar
• Skinner, Liberty Before Liberalism, Ref. 6, p. 84.
   Google Scholar
• Bentham Manuscripts, University College, London, box Ixix, fol. 44.
   Google Scholar
• Postema , G. J. 1986 . Bentham and the Common Law Tradition , Oxford : Clarendon Press . Such an interpretation is offered in Kelly, op. cit.. Ref. 24; Rosen, Bentham, Byron and Greece, and Jeremy Bentham and Representative Democracy, op. cit., Ref. 9; and
   Google Scholar
• Freeden , M. 1996 . Ideologies and Political Theory , Oxford : Clarendon Press . Some of these issues are dealt with in my 'Contextual and non-contextual histories of political thought', and at greater length in
   Google Scholar
• Skinner, Liberty Before Liberalism, Ref. 6, pp. 84-86.
   Google Scholar
• Collini , S. 1992 . “ 'The ordinary experience of civilized life: Sidgwick's politics and the method of reflective analysis' ” . In Essays on Henry Sidgwick , Edited by: Schultz , B. 333 – 368 . Cambridge : Cambridge University Press . On the conservatism of Sidgwick in contrast to Bentham, see
   Google Scholar
• Bentham , Jeremy . 1977 . “ A Fragment on Government (1777) ” . In A Comment on the Commentaries and A Fragment on Government , Edited by: Burns , J. H. and Hart , H. L. A. 393 London : Athlone Press .
   Google Scholar