Infamousforauthoringtwoconceptssincefavoredbygovernmentpowersseekinglicenseforruthlessness--theutilitariannotionofprivilegingthegreatesthappinessforthemostpeopleandthepanopticon--JeremyBenthamisnotcommonlyassociatedwithpoliticalemancipation.Butperhapsheshouldbe.Inhisprivatemanuscripts,Benthamagonizedovertheinjusticeoflawsprohibitingsexualnonconformity,questioningstatepolicythatwouldputsomeonetodeathmerelyforenjoyinganuncommonpleasure.Heidentifiedsourcesofhatredforsexualnonconformistsinphilosophy,law,religion,andliterature,arguingthathisgoalof“thegreatesthappiness“wouldbeimpossibleaslongasauthoritiesdictatewhosepleasurescanbetoleratedandwhosemustbeforbidden.Ultimately,Benthamcametobelievethatauthoritiesworkedtomaximizethesufferingofwomen,colonizedandenslavedpersons,andsexualnonconformistsinordertodemoralizedisenfranchisedpeopleandpreventanychallengetopower.InUncommonSense,CarrieShanafeltreadsBentham’ssexualnonconformitypapersasanargumentforthetolerationofaestheticdifferenceasthefoundationforegalitarianliberty,sheddingnewlightoneighteenth-centuryaestheticsandpolitics.AtoddswiththecommonimageofBenthamasadehumanizingcalculatororaneccentricprojector,thisinnovativestudyshowsBenthamathismostintimate,outragedbyinjusticeanddesperatefortheendofsanctioned,discriminatoryviolence.
