POLI 110 Lecture Notes - Lecture 3: Jean Bodin, Illiberal Democracy, Jeremy Bentham
27 Mar 2016
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Document Summary
Utilitarianism is a theory of the state associated with the british political thinker, jeremy bentham. Bentham argued legitimacy of government should be judged by degree to which it promoted the greatest happiness of the greatest number of people. Utilitarianism is adopted by democracy to bring the pleasure of the majority. However, utilitarianism often neglects the moral and ethic issues of what being desired by the majority. Classic liberal theory of the state is associated with pluralism, holds the state should remain neutral in debated over diferent conceptions of the good. Communitarianism believes the state is responsible to unite society around a common set of values. Rousseau believes the state should be judged by the degree to which it upholds the general will. General will could only exist in small-scale communities according to. Hegel distinguishes state, civil society and the family.
