Jeremy Bentham: Present but Not Voting

I am still reeling from last night’s season finale of LOST. I won’t ruin the BIG HUGE REVEAL of who was in the coffin here but needless to say, I was shocked. All season long I had predicted that it was Michael’s body but, man-o-man, was I wrong!!! (Credit where credit is due, my wife guess correctly)

Now here is something I found absolutely fascinating about tonight’s episode. The name given to the body in the coffin was Jeremy Bentham. The real Bentham was a English philosopher from the late 1700s and early 1800s. He is most known for his advocacy of Utilitarianism, the idea that goodness is derived from an action’s outcome. True goodness is measured by the impact it has on a situation as a whole. What is done for the greater good and the greatest number of people is deemed truly great. Looks like we have a season of story in there somewhere.

The thing that most struck me about the real Bentham and how he might relate to LOST as we go forward was his corpse. To the best of my understanding, Bentham had his body preserved and stored in a cabinet. One article said that this was due to financial reasons. More likely is that he allowed his student, Dr. Southwood Smith, to preform an autopsy on his body. Autopsies were highly controversial but Bentham and Smith believed that by dissecting a dead body many great things might be learned for the betterment of society. Again, the greater good would be served.

In 1850 University College London acquired the body and presented it on display in their main building. Apparently, the head fell off one day and so the powers that be sculpted a replacement head out of wax but kept the real head in the cabinet. The head, after years of being stolen and being just plain creepy, was removed and is in “safe keeping.” The college allegedly brings Bentham’s cabinet to important Council meetings where he is marked “present but not voting.” According to the Wikipedia article, if there is ever a need for a tie breaking vote Bentham votes in favor of the motion.

So what does this mean for our friend in the coffin? Well, Ben said everyone has to go back so… looks like “Bentham” will be tagging along. Add a little creep factor to this if he sits in on the return trip planning meetings too.

It is hard to believe that I have to wait until 2009 to find out that I’m probably wrong about this. Leave your thoughts and theories in the comments section friends. Have a good weekend everyone.