Bentham and the decriminalisation of sodomy. Utilitarian arguments and historical context
Article Sidebar
Main Article Content
Abstract
This paper is an update of the contextualization and presentation of the arguments in favor of the decriminalization of sodomy exposed by Bentham in various writings, mostly unpublished. First, and following the publication of the recent study by Charles Upchurch, the need to review the historiography on Bentham's relationship with the decriminalization of homosexual relations is pointed out. Second, it contextualizes his written output on the issue. Finally, the arguments used by the philosopher are analyzed, emphasizing their utilitarian character.
Keywords:
Cited by
Article Details
References
Bentham, J. (1789), Introduction to the Principles of Morals and Legislation, Torrazza Piemonte, Pantianos Classics
Bentham, J. (2014), Of Sexual Irregularities, and Other Writings on Sexual Morality, The Collected Works of Jeremy Bentham, Edited by Ph. Schofield, C. Pease-Watkin and Michael Quinn, Oxford, Clarendon Press
Bentham, J. (2002), De los delitos contra uno mismo, Madrid, Biblioteca Nueva
Bentham, J. (2021), Sobre el homoerotismo. Tres ensayos inéditos, Pamplona, Laetoli
Binoche, B. et Cléro, J.P. (2007), Bentham contre les droits de l’homme, Paris, PUF
Campos Boralevi, L. (1984), Bentham and the Opressed, Berlin, De Gruyter
Crimmins, J. E. (2004), Secular Utilitarianism. Social Science and the Critique of Religion in the Thought of Jeremy Bentham, Oxford, Clarendon Press
Crompton, L. (1978a). Jeremy Bentham’s Essay on ‘Paederasty’, Journal of Homosexuality, 3 (4), pp. 383-405
Crompton, L. (1978b). Jeremy Bentham’s Essay on ‘Paederasty’, Journal of Homosexuality, 4 (1), pp. 91-107
Crompton, L. (1998), Byron and Greek Love. Homophobia in 19th-Century England, London, The Gay Men’s Press
Foucault, M. (2004), Naissance de la biopolitique, Cours au Collège de France. 1978-1979, Paris, Gallimard-Seuil
Gladfelder, H. (2007a). In Search of Lost Texts: Thomas Cannon’s Ancient and Modern Pederasty Investigated and Exemplify’d, Eighteenth-Century Life, 31 (1), pp. 22-38
Gladfelder, H. (2007b). The Indictment of John Purser, Containing Thomas Cannon’s Ancient and Modern Pederasty Investigated and Exemplify’d, Eighteenth-Century Life. 31 (1), pp. 39-61
Harvey, A. D. (1978). Prosecutions for Sodomy in England at the Beginning of the Nineteenth Century. The Historical Journal, 21 (4), pp. 939-948
Laqueur, T. W. (2003), Solitary Sex. A Cultural History of Masturbation, New York, Zone Books
Morris, P. (2013). Sodomy and Male Honor: The Case of Somerset, 1740-1850. The Pursuit of Sodomy, Male Homosexuality in Renaissance and Enlightenment Europe (383-406), New York, Routledge
Norton, R. (2015). Homosexuality. A Cultural History of Sexuality in the Enlightenment (57-83), London, Bloomsbury Academic
Rubini, D. (2013). Sexuality and Augustan England: Sodomy, Politics, Elite Circles and Society. The Pursuit of Sodomy, Male Homosexuality in Renaissance and Enlightenment Europe (349-381), New York, Routledge
Schofield, Ph. (2014). Jeremy Bentham on Taste, Sex and Religion. Bentham’s Theory of Law and Public Opinion (90-118), New York, Cambridge University Press
Sibalis, M. D. (1996). The Regulation of Male Homosexuality in Revolutionary and Napoleonic France, 1789-1815. Homosexuality in Modern France (80-101), New York, Oxford U. P.
Sokol, M. (2011), Bentham, Law and Marriage: A Utilitarian Codeo f Law in Historical Contexts, New York, Continuum International Publishing Group
Tasset, J. L. (2021). Introducción. Sobre el homoerotismo. Tres ensayos inéditos (7-17), Pamplona, Laetoli
Upchurch, Ch. (2021), Beyond the Law. The Politics of Ending the Death Penalty for Sodomy in Britain, Philadelphia, Temple University Press
Vázquez García, F. (2021a). Epílogo. Sobre el homoerotismo. Tres ensayos inéditos (189-260), Pamplona, Laetoli
Vázquez García, F. (2021b). Filosofía de la felicidad y libertad sexual en Jeremy Bentham. Telos. Revista Iberoamericana de Estudios Utilitaristas, 24 (1-2), pp. 1-13, https://doi.org/10.15304/telos.24.1-2.8088
Most read articles by the same author(s)
- Francisco Vázquez García, Philosophy of Happiness and Sexual Freedom in Jeremy Bentham , Télos: Vol 24 No 1-2 (2020): Nº doble correspondiente al año 2020