Bentham's

SCM Brieflys introduce texts commonly studied at A level and Level One undergraduate courses in Philosophy, Theology and Religious Studies. A comprehensive introductory chapter sets the text and its author in their wider context.

The texts are analysed and summarized in an accessible and yet thorough style that makes SCM Brieflys an essential study tool for all who want to engage in more depth with some of the key texts of philosophy, theology and related disciplines.

In the Introduction to the Principles of Morals and Legislation (1789), Bentham strove 'to cut a new road through the wilds of jurisprudence'. Laws should be socially useful and not merely reflect the status quo; and, that while he believed that human beings inevitably pursue pleasure and avoid pain, Bentham thought it to be a 'sacred truth' that 'the greatest happiness of the greatest number is the foundation of morals and legislation'.

New Features:

a new-style Context section with a list of key quotations as a helpful revision aid

a more user-friendly Overview section in bullet-point form

an Index of all the terms in the Glossary, so that students can refer to topics they want to look at more easily.