Abstract
In his book on political fallacies, Bentham lists the many ways by which the state deceives and confuses ordinary people into letting the “ruling few” control the “subject many.” He recognizes the fact that everyone has a “self-regarding interest” and that there is a “universal interest” which those in power ought to respect. However, when a ruling few get control of the state they inevitably pursue their own “sinister interest” to the neglect or detriment of the interests of the subject many. The only exception to this rule he believes might be the new United States of America.
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Hart, D.M., Chartier, G., Kenyon, R.M., Long, R.T. (2018). Jeremy Bentham, “How the Demand for Political Fallacies Is Created by the State of Interests,” The Book of Fallacies (1824). In: Hart, D., Chartier, G., Kenyon, R., Long, R. (eds) Social Class and State Power. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-64894-1_8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-64894-1_8
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