Comments on Philip Schofield’s Jeremy Bentham Prophet of Secularism.docVIP

SYMPOSIUM GLOBAL JUSTICE, PRIVATE MORALITY, AND UTILITARIAN PERSPECTIVE COMMENTS ON PHILIP SCHOFIELD’S JEREMY BENTHAM : PROPHET OF SECULARISM DOMENICO MELIDORO ? 2011 – Philosophy and Public Issues, Vol. 1, No. 1 (Fall 2011): pp. 78-81. Luiss University Press E-ISSN 2240-7987 | P-ISSN 1591-0660  Domenico Melidoro – Comments Comments on Philip Schofield’s Jeremy Bentham: Prophet of Secularism Domenico Melidoro I Beyond decriminalization of homosexual conduct Bentham argued that no action should be established as a criminal offence unless it caused harm. Homosexuality, where there was consent, caused no harm, and should, therefore, be decriminalized. The pleasures of the bed would be treated with the same ‘indifference’ as the pleasures of the table (p. 24) Just as morality and religion did not interfere in the methods of cookery, so they should not interfere in the modes of sexual gratification (p. 24). These three quotations are very effective in showing the liberal effects of an utilitarian ethics such as Bentham’s in dealing with decriminalization of homosexual acts among consenting individuals. When sexual acts concern adult and consenting people there is no harm and, when this occurs, morality, religion, and law should not interfere. To be more precise, one should say that in Bentham’s approach we find that non-interference is joined with indifference. In other words, a negative understanding of freedom coexists with a strongly non-judgmental attitude towards homosexual acts. 79  Philosophy and Public Issues | Global Justice, Private Morality, and Utilitarian Perspective Bentham’s approach has perfectly worked in favour of the decriminalization of homosexual behaviour. But how does it work when contemporary controversial issues involving some form of public visibility of sexual identities are at stake? The gay marriage goes beyond a simple decri