3 ms·
> lives on as a dried out lich in a chair Wow, I thought you are being metaphorical, but turns out it's literally true. Anyway - I'm not a believer in utilita
by stereolambda 3y ago
> lives on as a dried out lich in a chair
Wow, I thought you are being metaphorical, but turns out it's literally true.
Anyway - I'm not a believer in utilitarianism, but don't think attacking works of the founder of the movement really forms that strong of an argument. I'd say utilitarianism is a project of founding a rationalist ethics (note, one of a bunch of possible ones) that happens to fail in having a strong logical structure without generating ridiculous consequences. It tries to handwave it, patch itself with some ad hoc additions and act like it's a quasi-scientific thing.
- leashless 3y agoIt's just amazing. I used to work at UCL and you can casually find yourself walking past Bentham. It took me years to understand how weird that was and how massive his mental footprint is today. I'm considering starting a public campaign to have him properly cremated and the ashes scattered at sea. Maybe that'll sort everybody out. Magical thinking but so is having yourself mummified as a gag.
- amenhotep 3y agoIt's true that there is a memorial mannequin on display at UCL that contains some of his remains, it's absolutely untrue that they wheel him out to attend every committee meeting. OP's careless repetition of a myth like this has some bearing on his credibility imo.
- jazzyjackson 3y agothey said "wheel out at board meetings", not every meeting, apparently he's attended at least one: "Seated with his walking stick, Bentham wears his best Sunday clothes. In this condition, he attended UCL’s 150th anniversary council meeting in 1976: the minutes recorded him “present but not voting.”" https://daily.jstor.org/jeremy-benthams-auto-icon/ https://daily.jstor.org/jeremy-benthams-auto-icon/