First episode of The Greatest Good podcast available!

Posted on 17th October, 2024

UCL Press Play proudly presents the first episode of the brand new podcast series The Greatest Good. This is the first podcast series produced under this title, and joins the documentary film ‘Bentham’s Defence of Sexual Liberty’, which is already available.

In the first podcast episode, Professor Philip Schofield and Professor Gregory Dart from UCL’s Department of English discuss the philosophical differences between Utilitarianism and Romanticism, in the context of the founding of ‘the Cockney College’, as UCL was known at the time. They explore how Bentham’s utilitarian principles, emphasising happiness and the greatest good, contrasted with Romantic notions of moral intentions and conscience.

The full series will be made available in coming weeks, and will include episodes covering Queerness, Islam and the Left; Queer Aesthetics and the Panoptic Gaze; The UK’s First Gaysoc; and Nonbinary Gender in the Middle Ages. The documentary ‘Bentham’s Defence of Sexual Liberty’ is available to stream now via YouTube.

About The Greatest Good

The inaugural series from UCL Press Play, The Greatest Good, explores the lasting influence of the philosopher Jeremy Bentham, whose radical progressivism was the intellectual inspiration for UCL. As the first entirely secular university to admit students regardless of religion, UCL was inspired by Bentham’s principles of equality and intellectual freedom.

About UCL Press Play

UCL Press Play is a new initiative presenting documentary videos and podcasts featuring aspects of UCL’s sector-leading research, and casting light on the contribution UCL makes to society.

Just as UCL Press makes its work accessible through Open Access, UCL Press Play brings the ground-breaking research of London’s global university to audiences worldwide.