Celebrating the work of John Stuart Mill with the dead

Wendy Donner recently broke bread with a 200-year old colleague. A keynote speaker at the recent John Stuart Mill Bicentennial Conference, Donner was seated next to the mummy of 18th century philosopher of utilitarianism, Jeremy Bentham.

According to philosophy folklore, a condition of Bentham’s will stipulated that his body be preserved by the university and displayed at important gatherings, such as the conference banquet.

“I think the organizers realized that I have a sense of humour and am not freaked out by stuffed dinner companions,” said Donner, professor of philosophy, of the unusual tradition.

Donner was an invited keynote lecturer at the April 2006 conference, which celebrates the work of John Stuart Mill. A nineteenth century utilitarian philosopher, Mill would radically revise utilitarian philosophy put forth by Bentham.

In her keynote lecture John Stuart Mill and Virtue Ethics, Donner argued “that Mill’s philosophy had a doctrine of virtue that compliments his theory of morality.”

The conference, held at University College London, celebrated the bicentenary of John Stuart Mill’s birth in 1806, and attracted scholars from around the world. The keynotes included presentations from a number of prestigious universities. Among these were Princeton, Chicago, St. Andrews, Oxford and UCL.