Bentham Centre seminars

The Spanish Cortes in the Benthamite ‘Scheme of Revolutionizing the Spanish Colonies in America’ (1808-1809)

With Paulette Baeriswyl, University of Zurich

The Benthamite collaboration on the Hispanic American emancipatory project, reflected in the 1809 publication of the Edinburgh Review, unveiled the Grand Affaire strategy - a plan to achieve the independence of the colonies through the establishment of a constitutional system in Spain. This approach echoed earlier negotiations during the French Revolution, when Brissot argued that any revolutionary project must first take root in Spain before extending to its colonies. The efforts of the Bentham and Dumont articulated through the Holland House Circle in Seville and in connection with Gaspar de Jovellanos, culminated in the decree of 22 May 1809 and the reestablishment of the Spanish Cortes. The pamphlet "Suggestions on the Cortes", regarded in the history of political thought as a channel for introducing English constitutional theories into Spanish political discourse, linked the debate over colonial representation in the Cortes to the broader arguments for South American independence.  

Bentham: a useful education

With Allison Dube, Mount Royal University, Calgary, Canada

I believe that Chrestomathia is a key, and possibly keystone work in Bentham’s corpus.  It is a statement of his ideas about knowledge, teaching and learning, yet may also be seen as a lens through which themes in other of his works play a role and gain clarity.  Chrestomathia invites articulations both of Bentham’s understanding of a useful education, and of a useful education about Bentham.