Convict Australia and Utilitarianism: Jeremy Bentham's 'Writings on Australia'

无论是在学术界还是在普通公众中，罪犯运输的历史，特别是澳大利亚作为一个政治国家的出现，都是一个日益引起人们兴趣的话题。关键时期是18世纪末和19世纪上半叶，当时澳大利亚的开放，首先是对被流放的重罪犯，其次是对自由定居者，引起了关于犯罪和惩罚，殖民主义和帝国主义的辩论。这场辩论中最重要的贡献者之一是功利主义哲学家杰里米·边沁（1748-1832），他关于澳大利亚的著作被反对流放罪犯的人引用，以改变英国政府的政策。然而，没有权威的，因此令人满意的版本边沁的著作在这个问题上。因此，本研究的核心是边沁的“澳大利亚著作”的批判版，这将成为杰里米边沁文集的一部分，并将由克拉伦登出版社出版。文本的开放获取版本将在网上免费提供。该卷将包括“Panopticon versus New South Wales”，“A Plea for The Constitution”（都写于1802年，最终出版于1812年）和“Colonization Society Proposal”（写于1831年，但迄今为止从未出版）。在前两篇文章中，边沁认为交通并没有实现惩罚的正确目的，即威慑和改革，交通政策是违宪的。这两部作品的印刷文本将由伦敦大学学院图书馆的原始手稿补充，其中包含早期草稿和大量未发表的“为宪法辩护”。这些草稿尤其重要，因为它们比印刷文本更激进，更具对抗性，并表明边沁可能因为担心被控煽动叛乱而缓和了自己的观点。在第三篇文章中，受爱德华·吉本·韦克菲尔德系统化殖民体系的影响，边沁主张建立一个自由、民主的殖民地，这一计划在南澳大利亚取得了成果。该卷将包含完整的历史注释，编辑介绍，以及名称和主题索引。运输和殖民历史上的开创性文本将首次以权威版本提供。研究人员将产生原创的解释性学术研究，将研究：(1)边沁关于澳大利亚的著作与他的刑法理论之间的关系，以及它们在他的政治激进主义发展中的地位；(2)边沁思想对澳大利亚罪犯刑理论与实践的影响与冲击；(3)边沁的思想对十九世纪上半叶交通和殖民的支持者和反对者的影响和影响，这反过来又塑造了自那以后对澳大利亚历史的看法。将举行一次会议，目的是进一步评估新版边沁著作的意义，并从各种学科的角度，包括哲学、法律和历史，激发对殖民主义、自由主义和帝国主义的思想史和理论的新研究。这次会议又将产生一本经过编辑的文集。该项目将通过一系列定期的博客和推文，YouTube视频，突出边沁对澳大利亚罪犯的看法的重要性，以及利用我们与媒体的联系，吸引公众对其研究的兴趣。

The history of convict transportation, and in particular the emergence of Australia as a political state, is a subject of mounting interest, both within academic circles and among the general public. The critical period was the very end of the eighteenth century and the first half of the nineteenth century, when the opening up of Australia, in the first place for transported felons, and in the next place for free settlers, gave rise to debates about crime and punishment, colonialism, and imperialism. One of the most important contributors to this debate was the utilitarian philosopher Jeremy Bentham (1748-1832), whose writings on Australia were drawn upon by opponents of convict transportation in order to change the policy of the British government. There is, however, no authoritative and hence satisfactory edition of Bentham's writings on the subject. Hence, the centrepiece of this research is a critical edition of Bentham's 'Writings on Australia', which will form part of the Collected Works of Jeremy Bentham, and will be published by the Clarendon Press. Open access versions of the texts will be made freely available online. The volume will contain 'Panopticon versus New South Wales', 'A Plea for the Constitution' (both written in 1802, and eventually published in 1812), and 'Colonization Society Proposal' (written in 1831, but never hitherto published). In the first two texts, Bentham argued that transportation did not fulfil the proper ends of punishment, namely deterrence and reform, and that the policy of transportation was unconstitutional. The printed texts of these two works will be supplemented by the original manuscripts in University College London Library, which contain early drafts and a substantial unpublished addition for 'Plea for the Constitution'. The drafts are particularly important in that they are more radical and confrontational than the printed texts, and show that Bentham may have moderated his views because of fears of prosecution for sedition. In the third text, influenced by Edward Gibbon Wakefield's systematic colonization system, Bentham argues in favour of establishing a free, democratic colony, a project that came to fruition in South Australia. The volume will contain full historical annotation, an editorial introduction, and name and subject indexes. Seminal texts in the history of transportation and colonization will be made available for the first time in an authoritative edition. The researchers will produce original interpretive scholarship that will investigate (1) the relationship between Bentham's writings on Australia and his penal theory more generally, as well as their place in the development of his political radicalism; (2) the influence and impact of Bentham's ideas on the theory and practice of punishment in convict Australia; and (3) the influence and impact of Bentham's ideas on advocates and opponents of transportation and colonization in the first half of the nineteenth century, which have in turn shaped perceptions of Australian history ever since. A conference will be held with the aim of to assessing still further the significance of the new edition of Bentham's writings, and to stimulate new research on the intellectual history and theory of colonialism, liberalism, and imperialism, from a variety of disciplinary perspectives, including philosophy, law, and history. The conference will in turn give rise to a collection of edited essays. The project will engage the interest of the general public in its research through a regular series of blogs and tweets, a YouTube video highlighting the significance of Bentham's views on convict Australia, and the exploitation of our contacts with the media.