Born in London, the son of a leading attorney, Jeremy Bentham (1748-1832) was a child prodigy who began studying history and Latin at the age of three. At twelve he entered Queen's College in Oxford and earned his B.A. in three years, his M.A. in two - at the age of seventeen. His father expected him to become a practicing lawyer but Bentham was far more interested in philosophical foundations of ethics, morality and legal theory. He traveled widely throughout Europe; he wrote his first essay on economics in Russia and in 1792 became a citizen of France.
Bentham's main philosophical influences were Locke and Hume. When he read Hume's Treatise on Human Nature he said it was "as if scales fell" from his eyes. He went on to publish several books on political and legal theory but it was his Introduction to the Principles of Morals and Legislation (1789) that made him a powerful and influential international figure. In his Principles he lays the groundwork for utilitarianism; as developed by Mill, it is still today one of the leading moral theories in the world.
