Hektoen International

A Journal of Medical Humanities

Tag: Jeremy Bentham

  • Jeremy Bentham: Dead but not gone

    Howard FischerUppsala, Sweden “How little service soever it may have been in my power to render to mankind during my lifetime, I shall at least be not altogether useless after my death.”1– Jeremy Bentham The English polymath Jeremy Bentham (1748–1832) was a philosopher, jurist, and social reformer. His collected works started to be assembled in…

  • Ethics, feminism, and cosmetic surgery

    Unaiza Waheed London   Illustration by the author In Reshaping the Female Body, Kathy Davis expresses surprise when a feminist friend announces she is considering breast augmentation surgery: “[She] was very critical of the sufferings women have to endure because their bodies do not meet the normative requirements of feminine beauty,” yet she still felt…

  • Disciplinary architecture: prison design and prisoners’ health

    Niyi Awofeso Perth, Australia “First we shape our buildings; then they shape us” Winston Churchill, 1943   Architectural plans for NewGate Prison, London, c. 1800 (left) and Church of St. Roch, Lisbon, c. 1578 (right) Creating the built environment, the surroundings that provide the setting for human activity, draws on multiple disciplines, including architecture and…