Jeremy Bentham’s critique of natural rights constitutes one of the most formidable challenges to the foundational assumptions of Enlightenment liberalism. His famous characterization of natural rights as “nonsense upon stilts” reflects his radical empiricism and utilitarian rejection of metaphysical or a priori moral claims. Bentham’s assault on the doctrine of natural rights must be situated … Continue reading How does Jeremy Bentham critique the theory of natural rights, and why does he characterize it as “nonsense upon stilts”?