Anne Brunon-Ernst | Université Paris II - Panthéon-Assas (original) (raw)

Books by Anne Brunon-Ernst

Lorsqu’il est question d’influencer le comportement des individus à l’aide de politiques publique... more Lorsqu’il est question d’influencer le comportement des individus à l’aide de politiques publiques ou d’interventions gouvernementales, certains préfèreront parler de contrôle social, nous pouvons remarquer que la première décennie du xxie siècle est marquée par la volonté de développer et tester des politiques réglementaires envisagées et évaluées selon le critère de l’efficacité, sans que celui-ci ne soit nécessairement explicité. De telles politiques sont habituellement regroupées sous le concept général de nudges, inventé par Cass Sunstein et Richard Thaler. Ils expliquent qu’un nudge est une «initiative qui préserve la liberté de choix tout en orientant les décisions des gens dans la bonne direction.» Le dernier élément de cette définition peut sembler surprenant : pourquoi faudrait-il orienter les décisions des gens dans la « bonne » direction ? Ceux-ci ne sont-ils pas rationnels et autonomes ? Ne seraient-ils pas en mesure de prendre des décisions en accord avec leurs valeurs et leurs projets de vie ?

Jeremy Bentham is known as the founder of classical utilitarianism, and as a profound analyser an... more Jeremy Bentham is known as the founder of classical utilitarianism, and as a profound analyser and theorist of law. Occasionally, he is also mentioned (though for the most part fleetingly) as among the thinkers who contributed to the development of economics as a discipline. Insofar as the homo ecomomicus of modern economics is assumed to be a self-interested utility maximizer (with utility understood as a net balance of pleasure over pain), Bentham would recognize his own characterization of typical human motivation. However, he also recognized that, in seeking to maximize their own utility, human beings often make mistakes, through laziness or lack of time, overhasty associations of ideas, or desire to think and act like their fellows. In the English-speaking world at least, the previous sentence will be instantly recognizable as a summary of the findings of behavioural economics in general, and the nudge theory of Richard Thaler and Cass Sunstein in particular. Unfortunately for Bentham, he never published the material in which he most fully developed his insights into both the obstacles to rational choosing, and the range of possible governmental responses to those obstacles, and to the failures of rationality to which they give rise. That work, Bentham’s essay on ‘Indirect Legislation’, is the topic of this special issue.

L’ouvrage Nudge de Cass Sunstein et Richard Thaler1 est singulier à plusieurs titres : il est en ... more L’ouvrage Nudge de Cass Sunstein et Richard Thaler1 est singulier à plusieurs titres : il est en effet rare qu’un livre écrit par des universitaires rencontre un succès public, engendre une littérature universitaire foisonnante et soit cité dans des rapports d’organisations publiques ; en d’autres termes, il est rare qu’un ouvrage suscite autant de débats. Car tel est bien la singularité de ce texte : il pense intrinsèquement le lien entre monde universitaire et monde public grâce à cette théorie des désormais fameux nudges (« coups de pouce »), ces arrangements des contextes dans lesquels sont prises les décisions afin de les influencer dans le but d’améliorer le bien-être des individus, voire de la société en général. Thaler raconte ainsi assez humblement : « Nous avions écrit Nudge dans l’espoir timide que quelques personnes avec un peu d’influence pourraient le lire et en concevoir certaines idées politiques utiles »2. Il a bel et bien réussi le tour de force de mobiliser à la fois les acteurs universitaires et les décideurs publics. La théorie des nudges est à l’origine d’un mouvement de redéfinition de la manière dont il convient d’élaborer les politiques publiques, tout d’abord limité aux pays anglophones lorsque Barack Obama nomme Sunstein à la tête de l’OIRA (Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs). David Cameron va un peu plus loin en créant, à la suite des discussions avec Thaler, la « Behavioural Insights Team », plus connue sous le nom de « Nudge [End Page 7] Unit » et dirigée par David Halpern3. D’autres pays suivront4 et la Commission européenne a créé récemment la « Foresight and Behavioural Insights Unit ». Cette succession de décisions politiques témoigne à la fois de l’engouement des décideurs publics qui voient dans les nudges « des approches simples, à bas coût, préservant la liberté de choix, fondées directement sur les enseignements de l’économie comportementale qui promet d’économiser de l’argent, d’améliorer la santé des gens et leur vie »5, mais aussi de l’émergence d’une application des sciences comportementales aux politiques publiques, les « behaviourally informed policies ».
Il nous semble en effet désormais peu contestable que les sciences comportementales proposent un cadre d’analyse intéressant quant à la compréhension des processus de décision et offrent de nombreuses potentialités afin d’améliorer la qualité et l’effectivité des décisions prises par les décideurs lorsqu’ils mettent en place une politique publique6. Toutefois ce recours au nudge n’est pas sans poser de nombreuses questions quant à la légitimité et l’utilisation de ces « sciences ». A cet égard, et bien que le nudge soit étudié et utilisé depuis plusieurs décennies par les décideurs politiques et les universitaires outre-Atlantique, il commence seulement à être abordé en Europe. Plus particulièrement en France, si ce n’est le French Nudge Project7 qui dirige ce numéro spécial, peu de groupes de recherche revendiquent explicitement leur intérêt pour les nudges. Il était donc temps d’apporter une réflexion sur les fondements philosophiques de la théorie du nudge mais également sur les enjeux éthiques qu’il crée et les conséquences politiques et juridiques que son utilisation implique.
Deux remarques liminaires permettent de bien contextualiser l’ambition de ce numéro.
Premièrement, le nudge, apparaît comme le nouvel avatar de l’ « envahissement du droit par les normes »8. En effet, parmi les transformations profondes qui affectent le droit contemporain et plus largement les modes de gouvernance, on observe aujourd’hui un essor inédit de la « norme »9. Ces dispositifs de normalisation tendent de plus en plus à concurrencer, compléter voire remplacer les dispositifs juridiques classiques fondés sur des règles et contribuent à installer un mode de régulation caractéristique des « sociétés de contrôle », qui prend progressivement le pas...

Foucault’s and Bentham’s works have been regularly examined in isolation, yet rarely has the rela... more Foucault’s and Bentham’s works have been regularly examined in isolation, yet rarely has the relationship between them been discussed. This study traces the full breadth of that relationship within the fields of sexuality, criminology, ethics, economics and governance. By drawing on a range of new source material, Brunon-Ernst presents a convincing reassessment of Foucault’s concept of biopolitics and uncovers the neglected continuities between utilitarian thinking and Foucaultian theory. Not only does this study challenge our assumptions of Foucault and his intellectual formation, it offers a fascinating insight into the connections between eighteenth- and twentieth-century intellectual thought.

"In his hugely influential book Discipline and Punish, Foucault used the example of Jeremy Bentha... more "In his hugely influential book Discipline and Punish, Foucault used the example of Jeremy Bentham's Panopticon prison as a means of representing the transition from the early modern monarchy to the late modern capitalist state. In the former, power is visibly exerted, for instance by the destruction of the body of the criminal, while in the latter power becomes invisible and focuses on the mind of the subject, in order to identify, marginalize, and 'treat' those who are regarded as incapable of participating in, or unwilling to submit to, the disciplines of production. The Panopticon links the worlds of Bentham and Foucault scholars yet they are often at cross-purposes; with Bentham scholars lamenting the ways in which Foucault is perceived to have misunderstood panopticon, and Foucauldians apparently unaware of the complexities of Bentham's thought. This book combines an appreciation of Bentham's broader project with an engagement of Foucault's insights on economic government to go beyond the received reading of panopticism as a dark disciplinary technology of power.

Scholars here offer new ways of understanding the Panopticon projects through a wide variety of topics including Bentham's plural Panopticons and their elaboration of schemes of 'panoptic Utopia', the 'inverted Panopticon', 'panoptic governance', 'political panopticism' and 'legal panopticism'. French studies on the Panopticon are groundbreaking and this book brings this research to an English-speaking audience for the first time. It is essential reading, not only for those studying Bentham and Foucault, but also those with an interest in intellectual history of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, and those studying contemporary surveillance and society."

Quelles solutions pour mettre au travail les assistés et éradiquer la misère ? Jeremy Bentham (17... more Quelles solutions pour mettre au travail les assistés et éradiquer la misère ? Jeremy Bentham (1748-1832) se pose la question, lorsque, à la fin du dix-huitième siècle, une disette en Angleterre fait sombrer les pauvres dans l'indigence. Il propose alors une réforme radicale pour remédier au coût croissant de secours paroissiaux inefficaces. Il veut enfermer les indigents et les faire travailler dans des bâtiments panoptiques assurant une visibilité parfaite de leurs activités.

Papers by Anne Brunon-Ernst

published in Welfare, dir. C. Coron et L. Dalingwater, Paris: PSN, 2017, pp. 21-36.

Article sur "Le droit à l'épreuve du Panoptique" dans la publication des actes du colloque 40 ans... more Article sur "Le droit à l'épreuve du Panoptique" dans la publication des actes du colloque 40 ans de Surveiller et punir
Sociétés carcérales : Relecture(s) de Surveiller et punir, dir. Isabelle Fouchard et Daniele Lorenzini, coll. Institut des Sciences juridique et philosophique de la Sorbonne, Paris : Mare et Martin, 2017, p. 123-137.

The starting point of the present paper is the nudge phenomenon. The most disturbing element of n... more The starting point of the present paper is the nudge phenomenon. The most disturbing element of nudge is its potential for individual manipulation, that is for relying on initiatives that go beyond the acceptable limits of interference in individual choice. This feature is not ignored by nudge advocates, who discuss it extensively to justify the overriding benefits of such initiatives. In this discussion, they acknowledge the seminal importance of J.S. Mill’s harm principle, which is introduced in On Liberty.
Academics without hidden agendas must look into Mill’s theories from an intellectual history perspective and study to what extent Mill’s harm principle lends support to the interference of government and society in private lives. This paper first unveils some contradictions in the interpretation of Mill’s harm principle in order to show that it is an unlikely source of philosophical justification for nudge proponents.
The paper argues further that Mill was familiar with Jeremy Bentham’s writings on indirect legislation, presented in the Traités de legislation civile et pénale. It pinpoints elements of indirect legislation that are discussed by Mill in On Liberty, without ever naming them as such. The paper contends that Mill’s presentation of the harm principle can be read as a discussion with Bentham in relation to the appropriate limits of government intervention in people’s lives.
This double reading of Mill and Bentham through the lens of indirect legislation makes it possible to pinpoint the main differences between the authors as regards the appropriate degree of government interference. Bentham’s theories appear to be a more appropriate source of philosophical justification for the use of nudges than Mill’s harm principle.

Behavioural science has established that consumers’ decisions are affected by cognitive biases pr... more Behavioural science has established that consumers’ decisions are affected by cognitive biases preventing them from making rational choices that would increase their overall welfare. Sellers use these systematic misconceptions to increase sales. As a consequence, governments need to step in to protect consumers by imposing mandatory guidelines informed by behavioural sciences in order to prevent sellers from taking an unfair advantage of these biases. After studying the theoretical and legal framework of behaviourally-informed policies, the paper explores how the provision of insurance services at the time of purchase of a travel ticket is framed and shows how some companies use framing to comply with the letter of EU law while at the same time violating its spirit. The different linguistic strategies used show that, paradoxically, businesses’ strict legal compliance can display misleading options, which seek to overturn the effects of the EU behaviourally-informed initiatives.

Introduction to the paper published in the special issue Nudges: Better Choices? (eds Bozzo-Rey, ... more Introduction to the paper published in the special issue Nudges: Better Choices? (eds Bozzo-Rey, Brunon-Ernst, Van Waeyenberge).
“Back to the Sources of Nudges”, Nudges: Better Choices? in The Tocqueville Review/ La Revue Tocqueville. Vol XXXVII, n°1 (2016): 99-122.

The starting point of the present paper is the nudge phenomenon. The most disturbing element of t... more The starting point of the present paper is the nudge phenomenon. The most disturbing element of their operation is their potential for individual manipulation, i.e. initiatives go beyond the acceptable limit of interference on individual choice. This feature is not ignored by nudge advocates, who discuss it extensively to justify the overriding benefits of such initiatives. In the discussion, they acknowledge the seminal importance of JS Mill's harm principle, which is introduced in On Liberty. Academics without hidden agendas must look into JS Mill's theories from an intellectual history perspective and study to what extent JS Mill's harm principle lends support to government and society's interference in private lives. The paper first unveils the contradictions in the interpretation of JS Mill's harm principle in order to show that it is an unlikely philosophical justification for nudge proponents. The paper argues further that JS Mill was familiar with Jeremy Bentham's writings on indirect legislation, presented in the Traités de legislation civile et pénale. It pinpoints elements of indirect legislation that are discussed by JS Mill in On Liberty without ever naming them as such. The paper contends that JS Mill's presentation of the harm principle can be read as a discussion with Bentham in relation to the appropriate limits of government intervention in people's lives. This double reading of JS Mill and Bentham through the lens of indirect legislation makes it possible to pinpoint the main differences between both authors as regards the appropriate degree of government interference. Bentham's theories appear to be a more relevant philosophical justification for the use of nudges than Mill's harm principle.

Orthodox contract law theory assumes that parties agree to the terms of a contract before enterin... more Orthodox contract law theory assumes that parties agree to the terms of a contract before entering into an agreement. However recent factual evidence points towards the fact that consumers do not systematically read, thus become informed of, the terms of a contract. Academics are asking for mandatory frameworks to ensure that informed consent is indeed sought and given by parties to a contract. The present study looks into the user agreements of four online companies that provide a marketplace for the sale of goods or free provision of services by other sellers and/or users (Ebay, Tripadvisor, YouTube and Amazon). The aim is firstly to identify the lexical and textual markers of agreement in order to highlight the fallacy of informed consent. Secondly the present paper suggests textual and peri-textual nudging in online user agreement contracts to make informed consent effective.

Colloque sur les Quarante ans de Surveiller et punir, Université Paris 1, Novembre 2015

"Quelle est l'influence du virtuel sur la réalité politique telle qu'elle est perçue mais aussi t... more "Quelle est l'influence du virtuel sur la réalité politique telle qu'elle est perçue mais aussi telle qu'elle est construite, telle qu'elle se construit?".

Abstract of paper published with Arnaud van Waeyenberge in the Journal of Legal Pluralism and Uno... more Abstract of paper published with Arnaud van Waeyenberge in the Journal of Legal Pluralism and Unofficial Law (2015).

Abstract of the paper published in the Archives de philosophie special issue on Bentham (2015) A... more Abstract of the paper published in the Archives de philosophie special issue on Bentham (2015)
A. Brunon-Ernst, « Le gouvernement des normes : Jeremy Bentham et les instruments de régulation post-moderne », in Archives de philosophie, 78-2 (2015).

The panopticon was formulated by the British philosopher Jeremy Bentham (1748-1832) as a circular... more The panopticon was formulated by the British philosopher Jeremy Bentham (1748-1832) as a circular building of cells with a central inspection tower. The main purpose of the structure is to make the inmate behave as the institution wishes him/her to, as s/he believes that s/he is monitored at all times. The purpose of the present paper is not to assess the use of Bentham’s iconic prison scheme to describe present-day arrest, booking and identification procedures. I have criticized such use elsewhere.[2] The aim here is quite the opposite, as the present contribution looks into the discursive strategy chosen by Justice Scalia when using the panopticon reference. For civil rights groups and libertarians, the panopticon works as a threshold, beyond which government intrusion on citizen’s bodies is considered unacceptable. The reference to Bentham’s scheme points very clearly to the fact that, in Justice Scalia’s eyes and in that of the Justices who concurred with his dissent, that threshold was reached in the King v Maryland decision. Nonetheless here the meaning of the phrase « genetic panopticon » is to be understood beyond its topical use in King v Maryland. It is a system of management, which aims to control individual behavior through the use of their genetic data, whether or not in a criminal context (booking, general identification, medical screening, reproduction etc).

published in Welfare, dir. C. Coron et L. Dalingwater, Paris: PSN, 2017, pp. 21-36.

Colloque sur les Quarante ans de Surveiller et punir, Université Paris 1, Novembre 2015

In the 1970s, with the publication of Discipline and Punish, and with the development of his conc... more In the 1970s, with the publication of Discipline and Punish, and with the development of his concept of discipline, Foucault put Bentham back on the map of academic study. However, Bentham scholars have not been thankful for Foucault’s interest, which has contributed to present Bentham in the shape of a disciplinary freak, to the exclusion of any other more ‘progressive’ aspects of his thought. The last decade has witnessed a remarkable reappraisal of Foucault’s misjudged strategic reading, thanks to the editions of the Collected Works, to the research of the Centre Bentham, and to the publications of Foucault’s lectures at the Collège de France, which display a much more subtle understanding of Bentham’s theory. Throughout his life and within his work, Foucault’s political struggles and his philosophical studies raise the issue of his relationship with classical utilitarianism. With its expertise on utilitarianism and its marked interest in Foucault, the Revue d’études benthamienne is the first to offer a special issue on this relationship.

Journal of Bentham Studies, Jan 1, 2007

THE TOCQUEVILLE REVIEW LA REVUE TOCQUEVILLE VOL. XXXII No. 1 –– 2011 CONTENTS 5 In Memoriam:... more THE TOCQUEVILLE REVIEW

LA REVUE TOCQUEVILLE

VOL. XXXII No. 1 –– 2011

CONTENTS

5 In Memoriam: Daniel BELL (1919-2011) by Nathan GLAZER

Jeremy Bentham’s Theory Today

11 Anne BRUNON-ERNST –– Introduction

21 Emmanuelle de CHAMPS –– Constitution and the code: Jeremy Bentham on the
limits of constitutional branch of jurisprudence

43 Stephen G. ENGELMANN & Jennifer PITTS –– Bentham’’s ““Place and Time””

67 Annie L. COT –– Entre expertise et utopie : Jeremy Bentham et la question des colonies

89 Malik BOZZO-REY –– La transparence chez Jeremy Bentham : de l’’invisibilité d’’un concept à sa publicité

113 Jean-Pierre CLÉRO –– Bentham, Stuart Mill et la santé publique

143 Tim MULGAN –– The future of utilitarianism

Tocquevilliana

169 ChristianBÉGIN––Tocqueville etla fracture religieuse

Cet article est tiré des communications (1) de M. Bozzo-Rey, A. Brunon-Ernst et E. de Champs, « T... more Cet article est tiré des communications (1) de M. Bozzo-Rey, A. Brunon-Ernst et E. de Champs, « Traduire Bentham », Rouen, 23 mars 2006, (2) de M. Bozzo-Rey, A. Brunon-Ernst et E. de Champs, « Bentham in French », Londres, 6 avril 2006 et (3) A. Brunon-Ernst, « Traduire Bentham : la traduction en cours d'Introduction to the Principles of Morals and Legislation par le Centre Bentham », Paris, 22 mai 2006

Comparative study of two panoptic education plans: the Panopticon in the Poor Law Writings and in... more Comparative study of two panoptic education plans: the Panopticon in the Poor Law Writings and in Chrestomathia.
(Unpublished paper in French)

The Tocqueville review, Jan 1, 2007

Tocqueville is the anti-Bentham (OC, IV-1, 230). Introduction Alexis de Tocqueville and Jeremy... more Tocqueville is the anti-Bentham (OC, IV-1, 230).

Introduction
Alexis de Tocqueville and Jeremy Bentham belong to two different generations. When Tocqueville made his first trip to the South of England in 1833 and, the following year, when the publication of De la Démocratie en Amérique launched his career as a successful political writer, Bentham had died a couple of years before. Bentham had certainly never heard about a young hopeful French writer called Tocqueville. At least there is no mention of his name in Bentham’s Works and Correspondence and why should there be? However Bentham’s theories were not unknown to Tocqueville, more particularly those related to prisons. Tocqueville became acquainted with Bentham’s Panopticon when he and Gustave de Beaumont were commissioned by the French Interior Ministry to write a report on the American prison system which was subsequently published under Du système pénitentiaire aux Etats-Unis in 1831. When it came to prison reform, Bentham had become a household name among French academics at the time, alongside Cesare Beccaria and John Howard. Unfortunately Tocqueville’s references to Bentham were sparse and his passing comments were far from flattering. In a manuscript source, Tocqueville wrote on Bentham’s prison scheme in a derogatory manner: “Utopias. Model-size societies as in Bentham’s prison Panopticon”. And for the serious political writer Tocqueville sought to become, utopias were a threat to society: “There is a third class of people who without giving their opinion on their advantages or their drawbacks, consider the penitentiary system as a utopia born from the minds of philosophers and doomed to end up in the list of the monstrous projects of the human mind”. Bentham’s name then follows among the black listed authors. Bentham and Tocqueville are often presented as diametrically opposed social theorists, to the extent that Tocqueville is portrayed as the anti-Bentham. This essay contends that though there are differences rooted in their distinctive conceptions of liberty and the role of the state, Tocqueville and Bentham’s thoughts betray convergences as regards the diagnosis of pauperism, the economic assumptions underlying the problem and their humanitarian commitments. When it came to pauper management, they are more allies than enemies.
...
READ more in the Tocqueville Review

Critical Approach of Philosophy and Language on the Use of Nudges in Public Policy at the Queen's... more Critical Approach of Philosophy and Language on the Use of Nudges in Public Policy at the Queen's University on 22 November 2017

The starting point of the present paper is the nudge phenomenon. The most disturbing element of n... more The starting point of the present paper is the nudge phenomenon. The most disturbing element of nudge is its potential for individual manipulation, that is for relying on initiatives that go beyond the acceptable limits of interference in individual choice. This feature is not ignored by nudge advocates, who discuss it extensively to justify the overriding benefits of such initiatives. In this discussion, they acknowledge the seminal importance of JS Mill’s harm principle, which is introduced in On Liberty.
Academics without hidden agendas must look into Mill’s theories from an intellectual history perspective and study to what extent Mill’s harm principle lends support to the interference of government and society in private lives. This paper first unveils some contradictions in the interpretation of Mill’s harm principle in order to show that it is an unlikely source of philosophical justification for nudge proponents.
The paper argues further that Mill was familiar with Jeremy Bentham’s writings on indirect legislation, presented in the Traités de legislation civile et pénale. It pinpoints elements of indirect legislation that are discussed by Mill in On Liberty, without ever naming them as such. The paper contends that Mill’s presentation of the harm principle can be read as a discussion with Bentham in relation to the appropriate limits of government intervention in people’s lives.
This double reading of Mill and Bentham through the lens of indirect legislation makes it possible to pinpoint the main differences between the authors as regards the appropriate degree of government interference. Bentham’s theories appear to be a more appropriate source of philosophical justification for the use of nudges than Mill’s harm principle.

Corporations will devise legally compliant strategies in response to government counter-nudges. ... more Corporations will devise legally compliant strategies in response to government counter-nudges. In the case at hand, and in the absence of precise mandatory linguistic guidelines concerning the wording of un-ticked boxes on websites, companies are free to phrase the acceptance of the offer in a way that will make consumer approval (and thus purchase) more likely. Governments need to set strict linguistic guidelines to prevent the reversal of their counter-nudging policies.

Study of Bentham's middle classes: terminology, classification and values of the middle classes i... more Study of Bentham's middle classes: terminology, classification and values of the middle classes in Bentham's utilitarian plan.
(Unpublished paper in French)

Jeremy Bentham is a British philosopher who devoted his life and career to the systematic applica... more Jeremy Bentham is a British philosopher who devoted his life and career to the systematic application of the happiness principle, also known as the principle of utility. Bentham opens up the second paragraph of Introduction to the Principles of Morals and Legislation (1789) with a statement to that effect:
The principle of utility is the foundation of the present work […]. By the principle of utility is meant that principle which approves or disapproves of every action whatsoever according to the tendency it appears to have to augment or diminish the happiness of the party whose interest is in question: or, what is the same thing in other words to promote or to oppose that happiness. I say of every action whatsoever, and therefore not only of every action of a private individual, but of every measure of government.
Starting from Bentham’s introductory statement, the present paper investigates the origins, developments and contemporary derivatives of Bentham’s thought on happiness.
Part One of the paper studies the sources Bentham uses to build the happiness principle. Bentham himself identifies Priestley’s work as the inspiration for his own theory. However, recent studies show that Bentham’s recollections were certainly mistaken and that Beccaria’s work inspired him.
Part Two examines the methods Bentham uses to make the happiness principle a tool of government. Bentham achieves this aim mainly through the felicific calculus. Part Two shows both the operations of the calculus and its limits.
Part Three explores Michel Foucault’s reappropriation of Bentham’s felicific calculus in his theorisation of our present-day biopolitical age.
The paper looks into Bentham’s happiness principle, beyond the misreadings of the past two centuries, to offer a balanced perspective on Bentham’s endeavour

What is the general relevance of the biopolitical relationship identified by Foucault in Bentham’... more What is the general relevance of the biopolitical relationship identified by Foucault in Bentham’s economic writings? There are traditionally two schools of thought in Bentham studies. On the one hand, the authoritarian school contends that Bentham is the mastermind of authoritarian state control. On the other hand, the liberal school contends that Bentham thinks in terms of the rule of law, and aims at promoting civil and political rights. These two perspectives have always coexisted in academia, as is shown by Elie Halevy’s 1901 statement that Bentham’s thought was divided between the preservation of liberty and authoritarian social reform. Foucault’s interpretation of Bentham’s writings on economics can offer a form of resolution to these conflicting interpretations. Indeed, intriguingly enough, Foucault’s study of Bentham belongs both to the authoritarian and the liberal tradition at the same time.

Gary Browning, A History of Modern Political Thought: The Question of Interpretation, Oxford: OUP... more Gary Browning, A History of Modern Political Thought: The Question of Interpretation, Oxford: OUP, 2016, pp. 305-310.

Published in Cercles: http://www.cercles.com/ Book review of M. Del Bove and F. Moulon's collecti... more Published in Cercles: http://www.cercles.com/
Book review of M. Del Bove and F. Moulon's collection of essays

Published in Cercles: http://www.cercles.com/ Book review of Bentham's Prison Cooking published i... more Published in Cercles: http://www.cercles.com/
Book review of Bentham's Prison Cooking published in the Cercles Journal

Edwige Camp-Pietrain, L’Ecosse et la tentation de l’indépendance : Le référendum d’autodéterminat... more Edwige Camp-Pietrain, L’Ecosse et la tentation de l’indépendance : Le référendum d’autodétermination de 2014, PUS, 2014

Revue d'études …, Jan 1, 2010

1L'auteur de Bentham : A Guide for the Perplexed, Philip Schofield, est spécialiste de B... more 1L'auteur de Bentham : A Guide for the Perplexed, Philip Schofield, est spécialiste de Bentham, directeur du Bentham Project (University College London) et directeur de la publication des Collected Works of Jeremy Bentham. Comme l'indique le nom de la collection dans ...

Revue d'études …, Jan 1, 2009

Emmanuelle de Champs est maître de conférences à l&#x27;université Paris VIII et membre d... more Emmanuelle de Champs est maître de conférences à l&#x27;université Paris VIII et membre du Centre Bentham. La déontologie politique est le fruit de son travail de thèse. Dans cet ouvrage, elle se penche sur la théorie constitutionnelle de Jeremy Bentham (1748-1832). ...

Lecture in the Grands Systèmes de Droit series in Feb 2017 (Assas University)

Updated Lecture in the Legal Regulation Seminar at the Sciences Po Law School

Lecture on Bentham & HLA Hart at Assas University (FRANCE)

Power Point presentation of the Bentham and HLA Hart lecture

Lecture on Bentham and Human Rights given at Assas University (FRANCE)

Power point presentation for the Bentham and Human Rights lecture

Power Point presentation of the Bentham, Common Law and Codification lecture

Lecture in the Legal Regulation Seminar at the Sciences Po Law School

“Fiction and Punishment in Bentham’s Legal Theory”, Colloque sur Fact and Fiction in Eighteen Century England, Université Sorbonne-Nouvelle, 8-9 décembre 2017.

“Bentham and Indirect legislation”, Séminaire Généalogie et ontologie comparative de l’action pol... more “Bentham and Indirect legislation”, Séminaire Généalogie et ontologie comparative de l’action politique dans la modernité européenne du XIXe au XXe siècle, organisé par Olivier Feltham, 5 décembre 2017, Collège international de philosophie, Paris.