The Collected Works of Jeremy Bentham

The authoritative edition of the works and correspondence of Jeremy Bentham (1748–1832) is being prepared by the Bentham Project, a research unit based in UCL’s Faculty of Laws. The series is one of the most prestigious and most ambitious ever undertaken in the Western philosophical tradition. In spite of Bentham’s importance as a jurist, philosopher, social scientist, and leader of the utilitarian reformers, the only previous edition of his works was a poorly-edited and incomplete one brought out within a decade or so of his death. The vast majority of Bentham’s papers are deposited in UCL Library, and, with that in mind, as well as Bentham’s role in the foundation of UCL, the decision was taken by the Provost and Council in the late 1950s to proceed with a new critical edition. The first volumes were published in 1968.  UCL Press officially took over as publisher of new volumes in the Collected Works in 2020. The volumes are fully annotated, and contain an editorial introduction and detailed indexes.