History of economic thought the "age of chivalry is dead, that of sophisters, economists and calculators has succeeded, and the glory of Europe is extinguished forever." Smith's contemporary influences included François Quesnay and Jacques Turgot whom he met on a visit to Paris, and David Hume, his Scottish compatriot. The times produced a common need among thinkers to explain social upheavals of the Industrial revolution taking place, and in the seeming chaos without the feudal and monarchical structures of Europe, show there was order still. Jeremy Bentham (1748–1832) was perhaps the most radical thinker of his time, and developed the concept of utilitarianism. Bentham
Legal positivism it attempts to interpret the nature of reality beyond the physical and experiential. Thomas Hobbes and "Leviathan" Thomas Hobbes, in his seminal work "Leviathan", postulated the first clear notion of law based on the notion of sovereign power. As Hampton writes, "law is understood [by Hobbes] to depend on the sovereign's will. No matter what a law's content, no matter how unjust it seems, if it has been commanded by the sovereign, then and only then is it law.' There is, however, debate surrounding Hobbes's status as a legal positivist. Jeremy Bentham The English jurist and philosopher, Jeremy Bentham, is