Les fonctionnaires dans le Code Constitutionnel

The first volume of Bentham’s Constitutional Code details the organisation of the government and focuses on the duties and rights of functionaries. This article explores the status of functionaries in a utilitarian political system. The greatest happiness principle requires that all their actions be conformable to the interest of the greatest number, which is ensured by a strict official hierarchy and a series of checks. However, functionaries are also individuals whose happiness cannot be neglected. This article uses Bentham’s theory of fictions to explore the relationship between an individual and a class in the utilitarian system. Official functions limit the individual’s ability to serve interests contrary to those of the greatest number, but they are also understood by Bentham as a means to enhance individual happiness.