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The greatest good for the greatest number: Jeremy Bentham has his head between his knees.

Source cruel.org Click to Enlarge

Bentham hoped his corpse might preside over regular meetings of his utilitarian followers

Source www.kirchersociety.org Click to Enlarge

Source en.wikipedia.org Click to Enlarge

Source Click to Enlarge

Category Strange Statues, Mummies

When the moral philosopher Jeremy Bentham died in 1832, he left a will with specific instructions pertaining to the “disposal and preservation of the several parts of my bodily frame.” His skeleton was to be “clad in one of the suits of black occasionally worn by me” and seated upright on a chair, under a placard reading “Auto Icon.”

Bentham suggested that his corpse might then be able to preside over regular meetings of his utilitarian followers. For ten years prior to his death, Bentham purportedly carried in his pocket a pair of glass eyes that were to be embedded into his embalmed head. Here, however, Bentham’s plan went awry. His face was grossly disfigured in the process of preserving it, and a substitute wax replacement had to be created.

The real embalmed head was placed on the floor between Bentham’s legs, where it resided until 1975, when it was kidnapped by a group of students demanding £100 for charity. The university paid £10, and the head of the great moral philosopher was returned.

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• Website UCL London - Jeremy Bentham
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Comments

• Anonymous October 5, 2009
  Ah, yes. I remember finding this in a book when I was about 6. His embalmed head with glass eyes gave me nightmares for a week.
• Anonymous July 8, 2009
  it has a webpage: http://www.ucl.ac.uk/Bentham-Project/Faqs/auto_icon.htm
• Anonymous July 7, 2009
  One of my philosophy lecturers studied there for a time. He remembers asking for directions somewhere and was told 'Walk down this corridor and turn left at Bentham.' The instructions didn't make a lot of sense, until he found Bentham and a turn to the left.
• Sam E June 20, 2009
  I remember reading about this years ago.
• Anonymous June 17, 2009
  My mother went to the Slade school of art in the 60's, where Bentham was displayed at the time. She has a few funny stories of it creeping the hell out of her and other students. Good drawing material I guess :/
• Anonymous June 16, 2009
  Jesus, that is so unbelievably creepy. Interesting, but skin-crawlingly creepy. Jesus.
• Anonymous June 3, 2009
  Remind me never to get embalmed.