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- As the founder of modern utilitarianism, the philosopher believed it was ethical to do the most good for the most people. He donated his body to science, but requested that once researchers had dissected his remains, they mummify his head and preserve his body, dressed in his own clothes and padded out with hay, for display.
www.smithsonianmag.com › smart-news › philosophers-dressed-remains-get-new-display-university-college-london-180974347English Philosopher's Dressed-Up Skeleton Goes on View in New ...
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May 24, 2023 · Why is Bentham's body on show? In his will, Bentham requested that his body be preserved and fashioned into what he called an "auto-icon", a task which was carried out by his friend, surgeon ...
- Alex Corey
Mar 5, 2020 · He donated his body to science, but requested that once researchers had dissected his remains, they mummify his head and preserve his body, dressed in his own clothes and padded out with...
In the last version of his will, dated May 30, one week before his death, Bentham bequeathed his body to his friend Dr. Thomas Southwood Smith, instructing him and Bentham’s executor to arrange for its dissection to benefit medical science.
Instead of paying burial fees to the Church and letting his body rot underground, Bentham wanted to put his corpse to public use.
Bentham's wish to preserve his dead body was consistent with his philosophy of utilitarianism. In his essay Auto-Icon, or the Uses of the Dead to the Living , Bentham wrote, "If a country gentleman has rows of trees leading to his dwelling, the auto-icons of his family might alternate with the trees; copal varnish would protect the face from ...
Many people have speculated as to exactly why Bentham chose to have his body preserved in this way, with explanations ranging from a practical joke at the expense of posterity, a wish to inspire others to follow his example of donating their bodies to advance medical science, to a sense of overweening self-importance.
Oct 3, 2017 · The first is the physical removal of the head from his body when he died. Bentham had made a special request that his head be preserved in the style of the Maori, the Native New...
