The Oxford Companion to Philosophy Part 12. The book is alphabetized by the whole headings of entries, as distinct from the first word of a heading. Hence, for example, abandonment comes before a priori and a posteriori. It is wise to look elsewhere if something seems to be missing. At the end of the book there is also a useful appendix on Logical Symbols as well as the appendices A Chronological Table of Philosophy and Maps of Philosophy. | 90 Bentham Jeremy fact is Dumont s title . Bentham s claim is that language which looks as if it is describing what rights there actually are is in fact suggesting what rights there ought to be. That is instead of citing existing rights the French Declaration is giving reasons why there ought to be rights. As Bentham puts it in Anarchical Fallacies a reason for wishing that a certain right were established is not that right want is not supply hunger is not bread . So to suppose that such rights actually exist is nonsense. Even worse is to suppose that we can be sure that the correct rights have been found for all time. For Bentham is a promoter of experimentation. We have to keep seeing what utility is actually produced by particular systems of rights. Hence it is an additional mistake to think that any rights are unalterable indefeasible imprescriptible . This mistake was also made by the French. Hence the famous slogan. The complete remark from which it comes is natural rights is simple nonsense natural and imprescriptible rights rhetorical nonsense nonsense upon stilts . Natural rights was one attempted answer to the question of the source of obedience to the state and the conditions for legitimate revolution. Another attempted answer also popular in Bentham s day was the original or social contract. This device founding obedience on agreement was used by the leading contemporary defender of British law William Blackstone. Bentham ridicules such a defence in his Fragment on Government. For Bentham justification ofobedience to government depends upon utility that is upon calculation of whether the probable mischiefs of obedience are less than the probable mischiefs of resistance . A contract will not work here for Bentham because just like rights all real contracts are legal contracts. Hence they are produced by law and government and cannot therefore be used to provide a foundation for law and government. Even if its force is not supposed to be the force of a .
