Constitutional Limits and the Public Sphere

Book excerpt: Ben-Dor (law, U. of Southampton) developed this book concerning critical constitutionalism from his doctoral thesis at University College London. In it, he interprets unpublished and recently published texts by Jeremy Bentham (1748-1832), first reconstructing the most general argument about Bentham's legal and political thought as a founder of utilitarianism, and then analyzing Bentham's work within the context of contemporary debates in legal and political philosophy. He concludes that the technical and reductionist methodology associated with utilitarianism don't do justice to the theory, which identifies the maximization of pleasure as the most fundamental self-interest guiding people. Distributed by ISBS. c. Book News Inc.