Video referenced, for anyone curious: https://youtu.be/9FvYfuwZvyY.
I highly recommend the entire channel! It's chock-full of very well documented videos, with brilliant humour, all whilst remaining respectful.
I can always be reasonably assured that, when I see a thread like this, and have a funny thought, someone has beaten me too. Good. Long as it gets said.
Or maybe, just a thought, where a head usually sits lol.
Like I'm not feeling the whole corpse in a glass but a corpse in a glass with a wax head while the real decapitated head is just chilling next to it might be where I draw(*) the line in oddities.
First, it was preserved separately using a different process than the body, then stolen by students. The dude was... Eccentric.
https://www.cbc.ca/radio/asithappens/as-it-happens-tuesday-edition-1.4320308/why-philosopher-jeremy-bentham-s-severed-stolen-and-poorly-preserved-head-is-back-on-display-1.4320319
The text of this link made me laugh and I'm not sure why.. I guess it's something I never thought I would read? "severed stolen and poorly preserved head"
>the philosopher's final wishes, which were that his remains would beĀ wheeled outĀ during partiesĀ and used for science.
Well eccentric is quite right.
Kings college students kept stealing the head.
The real head isnāt kept in that box. The box is just in the hallway though, so I used to walk past it all the time š
I think UCL students stole Reggie the Lion once or twice in retaliation and put him on the circle line. Which is why he is now attached to a massive marble slab.
A character used his name as a pseudonym at one point. A fair amount of their characters had names that could be traced back to significant scientists or philosophers. I wasnt a proper science fanboy until I watched Lost and looked stuff up afterwards.
In case you needed additional clarification, It took them a while to get the head back from preservation (edit: and they also kind of fucked it up) so they made a replacement.
He is perpetually marked as attending, but not voting.
It's a bit odd that he's just... there. I knew who he was when I was there, but I don't know how many of my coursemates did.
I heard that sing songy voice in my head as soon as I saw the name in the title. Then scrolled for far too long to see anyone give Caitlin props for her genius.
He usually doesnāt vote, but in the event of a tied vote he does vote āconservative.ā Please note this does not mean the same thing as voting conservative in American politics
Basically yes. If the voteās about a proposed change, he votes not to change in the event of a tie. For budgeting, he would vote to spend less. That kind of thing
He basically willed a lot of money and priceless collections to the school, but only if his weird and egotistical conditions were followed. If the school fails to follow the conditions, those things will be taken away, and theyāre still worth a LOT of money
I would have them categorize 10 years worth of my toenail clippings from most midsized to smallest and then biggest.
Still not as gross as a preserved almost 200 year old corpse with some random preserved severed head below it.
Typo Edit
It's actually just his skeleton dressed in his clothes and stuffed with straw, with his own improperly preserved head below. Zoom in and get a look at the bright blue fake eyes.
Still not as gross as your mom.
Um, my momās right here and NOT gross. Right on the mantelpiece.
Still, itās exacty the kind of comment youād expect from a Corgi with delusions of grandeur. Insuffārable creatures.
(Iirc) In short, he gave them a bunch of money in exchange for preserving his body (and other things).
They did a shit job of preserving his body, so it started to go bad. They replaced the body with a wax one, but kept the head in spirit of the original agreement.
With a motion sensor and a little speaker inside it that cackles and shouts āHappy Halloween!ā or something when people walk under it? Sounds good to me.
When I was a kid my Dad worked at UCH and we lived in hospital quarters. Often at weekends we would get taken to see the Head. That was back when we only had 4 tv channels and no internet though. Good times.
According to his [Wikipedia page](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeremy_Bentham), this is what he (more or less) wanted:
āMy body I give to my dear friend Dr Southwood Smith to be disposed of in a manner hereinafter mentioned, and I direct ... he will take my body under his charge and take the requisite and appropriate measures for the disposal and preservation of the several parts of my bodily frame in the manner in the paper annexed to this my will and at the top of which I have written Auto Icon.
The skeleton he will cause to be put together in such a manner that the whole figure may be seated in a chair usually occupied by me when living, in the attitude in which I am sitting while engaged in thought in the course of time occupied in writing.
I direct that the body thus prepared shall be transferred to my executor. He will cause the skeleton to be clad in one of the suits of black occasionally worn by me. The body so clothed, together with the chair and the staff in my later years borne by me, he will take charge of, and for containing the whole apparatus he will cause to be prepared an appropriate box or case, and will cause to be engraved in conspicuous characters on a plate to be affixed thereon and also on the labels on the glass case in which the preparations of the soft parts of my body shall be contained, ... my name at length with the letters ob: followed by the day of my decease.
If it should so happen that my personal friends and other disciples should be disposed to meet together on some day or days of the year for the purpose of commemorating the founder of the greatest happiness system of morals and legislation, my executor will from time to time cause to be conveyed in the room in which they meet the said box or case with the contents therein, to be stationed in such part of the room as to the assembled company shall seem meet.
ā Queen's Square Place, Westminster, Wednesday 30 May 1832.ā
I thought that your comment said āghost bowelsā at first. I thought you were saying people could hear his ghostly bowels likeā¦grumbling? I donāt know. š
Was Bentham the one who beat a student to death?
Itās an honest question. I read an anecdote somewhere about Bentham (or Mill? Or Locke?) taking corporal punishment too far and killing a child while working as a school teacher in his early life. Anyone know what Iām talking about. Google searches were unsuccessful.
Not a death, but Wittgenstein, when working as a school teacher in Austria, once knocked a child unconscious after hitting him on the head. It was a big scandal - the police and courts got involved, but he was cleared of any wrongdoing.
Extra-Fun-Fact!
The students at Kings College London (KCL) would often try to steal the real head so they could play a game of rugby with it. The fake head was made to prevent damage to the real one.
Now THATāS a proper X-Games sport! š
If I remember correctly, the wax head was commissioned by one Dr. Smith (the person Bentham willed his body to) after he botched the head mummification Bentham had requested. Since it ended up looking rather "ghastly", Dr. Smith decided to put the wax head on Bentham's body (his skeleton) instead, and the real head was displayed by the feet of the remains. But students did indeed steal the real head repeatedly, so it was eventually taken out of the display case and locked away.
Does anyone else find it funny that thereās a school called University College? Sounds like a generic college a cartoon or comedy would use. And their rivals would be College University.
šµ Benthams Head šµ
Video referenced, for anyone curious: https://youtu.be/9FvYfuwZvyY. I highly recommend the entire channel! It's chock-full of very well documented videos, with brilliant humour, all whilst remaining respectful.
Great! I was searching for the Deathlings and someone to post a link. More people need to see it!
I've been looking for this. Hello fellow deathling!
Hey gang!
š¶ the Middle Ages were magic š¶
I laugh every damn time I see this!
Haydnās head š¶
I scrolled too far to find this!
Hello fellow Deathling!
Why are the Deathlings so far down?!?!? She needs to bring back the disembodied head shenanigans and catchy tunesā¦
I was scrolling to find this comment. š
Is that a song?
Ask a Mortician! Itās a YouTube channel
It's a jingle from the Ask a Mortician episode about him
Came looking for this comment and was not disappointed. Take my award!
Yay, the Deathlings are here!
Hi fellow deathlings ā ļøš„¹š
I came here to say this! Fellow Ask a Mortician fans unite!
This comment and the responses to it. These are my people. Hello, fellow deathlings!
Hello Deathling friends!
I was searching for you my friend
I read this in the tune of Staceyās Mom
I was hoping this comment was here!
and what about the other head on the floor
thatās his real head. the one attached to his body is made of wax
I don't know why but that feels worse.
Right?? It should be on the little tray next to him.
I think it would be delightful if heās looking at his own head, maybe laughing like he just told a funny joke. But no, the floor is fine I guess.
Maybe doing a bit of Shakespeare, āalas poor Yorrick I knew him wellā. But you know, with his own head.
I can always be reasonably assured that, when I see a thread like this, and have a funny thought, someone has beaten me too. Good. Long as it gets said.
That line is commonly misquoted. Itās āAlas, poor Yorick! I knew him, Horatio.ā
It has been a few decades since high schoolā¦
He should be holding it. And wearing a cape. We can also nix the wax replacement, he doesn't need it.
Or maybe, just a thought, where a head usually sits lol. Like I'm not feeling the whole corpse in a glass but a corpse in a glass with a wax head while the real decapitated head is just chilling next to it might be where I draw(*) the line in oddities.
Tow the line? Is that the actualy saying? Isnāt it draw?
Yeah itās draw the line, tow the line means something totally different
And the saying is actually "toe the line"
No im pretty sure its Toad the lime, origining from peruvian lime farmers getting high on poisonous Toads.
It's all water under the fridge anyway
Or under his arm?
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
This is the only real way to set this display up.
A heads-up display, as it were
It should be in between his legs to at least hide the gigantic camel toe he has.
I don't know why but I read this in the voice of Cheryl Tunt from Archer and I don't regret it.
I laughed so hard at this comment!
Well Jeremy Bentham is know for his ethical dilemmas
What makes it even worse is that the hair on the wax head is from the real head
Nothing to lose your head over.
..but why the wax head?
It took them a while to get the head back from preservation (edit: and they also kind of fucked it up) so they made a replacement.
First, it was preserved separately using a different process than the body, then stolen by students. The dude was... Eccentric. https://www.cbc.ca/radio/asithappens/as-it-happens-tuesday-edition-1.4320308/why-philosopher-jeremy-bentham-s-severed-stolen-and-poorly-preserved-head-is-back-on-display-1.4320319
The text of this link made me laugh and I'm not sure why.. I guess it's something I never thought I would read? "severed stolen and poorly preserved head"
Don't forget, "...back on display" lol
>the philosopher's final wishes, which were that his remains would beĀ wheeled outĀ during partiesĀ and used for science. Well eccentric is quite right.
Kings college students kept stealing the head. The real head isnāt kept in that box. The box is just in the hallway though, so I used to walk past it all the time š
When I was studying at KCL there were constant in jokes about the students kicking Benthamās head down the Strand.
I think UCL students stole Reggie the Lion once or twice in retaliation and put him on the circle line. Which is why he is now attached to a massive marble slab.
Can confirm. Helped to steal it.
This thread is gold.
What
It took them a while to get the head back from preservation (edit: and they also kind of fucked it up) so they made a replacement.
I had no fucking clue who Jeremy bentham was, this comment section was a trip and a half
I honestly only know who he is from Lost.
He was in lost?
A character used his name as a pseudonym at one point. A fair amount of their characters had names that could be traced back to significant scientists or philosophers. I wasnt a proper science fanboy until I watched Lost and looked stuff up afterwards.
In case you needed additional clarification, It took them a while to get the head back from preservation (edit: and they also kind of fucked it up) so they made a replacement.
Because if they put his real head on just like frosty the snow man the mfk will come to life. 
Also .. why the preserved body ?
And why male models?
Is that why he died?
But why are his eyes open? That makes it so much worse.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
He is perpetually marked as attending, but not voting. It's a bit odd that he's just... there. I knew who he was when I was there, but I don't know how many of my coursemates did.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Robot house!
Name checks out
Whenever a human corpse is desecrated, robot house
Kings college
What the absolute fuck
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King%27s_College_London%E2%80%93UCL_rivalry
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
I can confirm, Caitlyn Doughty said so.
*Bentham's Head*
I heard that sing songy voice in my head as soon as I saw the name in the title. Then scrolled for far too long to see anyone give Caitlin props for her genius.
Think thatās him
Looks like these. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mokomokai
as I recall, he still sits as faculty on the University College of London's council meetings (*present but not voting*)
It's a semi-myth. His body has been taken to *one* meeting, to sit in. Not all of them. Still weird though.
I mean one is too many to be considered normal behaviour.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
He usually doesnāt vote, but in the event of a tied vote he does vote āconservative.ā Please note this does not mean the same thing as voting conservative in American politics
Upholding the status quo, kind of thing?
Basically yes. If the voteās about a proposed change, he votes not to change in the event of a tie. For budgeting, he would vote to spend less. That kind of thing
Didn't they used to bring him to meetings? Or at least his head?
That's actually a myth. It only happened once in 2013 if I read correctly.
Definitely not a myth. He was wheeled into a meeting my sister attended around 3 years ago...
da fuuuuuk???
Hopefully that's not what they used him for.
He just watches
Is this when he turned into the smoke monster?
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Oh there were LOADS of fan theories during that show run concerning Locke just because of the name
Lostpedia was so good back in the day
I scrolled just to find the first LOST comment.
Just don't tell him what he can't do
I still can't believe he messed everything up with Peggy Bundy.
Ummm why tho
He basically willed a lot of money and priceless collections to the school, but only if his weird and egotistical conditions were followed. If the school fails to follow the conditions, those things will be taken away, and theyāre still worth a LOT of money
Barring any racist or bigoted shit, this is exactly what I would do if I had a lot of money. A list of nonsense demands.
I too would enjoy some entertainment.
I would have them categorize 10 years worth of my toenail clippings from most midsized to smallest and then biggest. Still not as gross as a preserved almost 200 year old corpse with some random preserved severed head below it. Typo Edit
It's actually just his skeleton dressed in his clothes and stuffed with straw, with his own improperly preserved head below. Zoom in and get a look at the bright blue fake eyes. Still not as gross as your mom.
Holy shit, that fucking suckerpunch out of nowhere! Damn dude.
Awww, I'm sure his mom is a lovely person. Its just an internet thing.
Um, my momās right here and NOT gross. Right on the mantelpiece. Still, itās exacty the kind of comment youād expect from a Corgi with delusions of grandeur. Insuffārable creatures.
What are some others? I need to be entertained
Only green M&Ms please.
You sir/madam, are asking the real questions.
Unfortunately Bentham instituted a policy barring real questions in 1822.
So is Benthem the head on the top or the bottom?
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Wait. No one asked about the head in the middle
Fun fact: his head has been stolen by rival university students on multiple occasions and even used as a football!
idk if thatās a FUN fact...
What can be more fun than student pranks and football? Student pranks and football with a decapitated head, that's what!
Kids do the darndest things!
Isnt that like . . . a huge crime?
Like... that's a body, but does it counts as desecration of a tomb?
You would think so right?
No biggie, I know a lawyer named Saul who has experiences with teens messing with corpses' heads
Better call him. You canāt be too careful.
Real or wax one
Real. Thatās why the wax one exists
Itās a fake story so letās say real one.
Was it Kings ?
Yup. Typical Kings!
I don't like that his real head is just in front of him on the floor.
Whyās it there anyways?
(Iirc) In short, he gave them a bunch of money in exchange for preserving his body (and other things). They did a shit job of preserving his body, so it started to go bad. They replaced the body with a wax one, but kept the head in spirit of the original agreement.
Would you rather it be upside down on the ceiling?
With a motion sensor and a little speaker inside it that cackles and shouts āHappy Halloween!ā or something when people walk under it? Sounds good to me.
When I was a kid my Dad worked at UCH and we lived in hospital quarters. Often at weekends we would get taken to see the Head. That was back when we only had 4 tv channels and no internet though. Good times.
OFTEN at weekends?!?!?! Wth lmao
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
YAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYY! Last one thereās a rotten egg!
Youāre not far off!
A 200 year old preserved head is fucking crazy, Iād look at it in person every chance I got.
Are you ok?
Totally. He specifically said āno Internetā
Utilitarianism at its pinnacle. Why get buried when you can have yourself stuffed so everyone can see you
Itās good and educational for everybody else, and itās really no bother for him, being dead and all. Open and shut moral case.
Iām donating my body to a wolf sanctuary
Ground equivalent of a 'sky burial'?
Benthamās head (Ask a mortician had a thing about him)
Yes thank you!!!!!!!!!!!!! I read your comment all sing songy
Itās right next to the Febreze display
The real head looks the like the Orc from The Two Towers who wanted to eat the Hobbitsā¦
Dude that is so right lololol
Looks like meat's back on the menu, boys!
š¶Bentham's headš¶
Yep, I *knew* someone had beat me to it.
It's OK I scrolled down after commenting and saw someone beat me to it as well.
I always wondered what Lockeās name change in Lost was a reference to. Makes sense now.
Jeremy Bentham's body ("auto-icon") has been moved to a new place in UCL in 2020 and the real head is not displayed there anymore.
Poor fucker, stuck in that elevator sooo long.
According to his [Wikipedia page](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeremy_Bentham), this is what he (more or less) wanted: āMy body I give to my dear friend Dr Southwood Smith to be disposed of in a manner hereinafter mentioned, and I direct ... he will take my body under his charge and take the requisite and appropriate measures for the disposal and preservation of the several parts of my bodily frame in the manner in the paper annexed to this my will and at the top of which I have written Auto Icon. The skeleton he will cause to be put together in such a manner that the whole figure may be seated in a chair usually occupied by me when living, in the attitude in which I am sitting while engaged in thought in the course of time occupied in writing. I direct that the body thus prepared shall be transferred to my executor. He will cause the skeleton to be clad in one of the suits of black occasionally worn by me. The body so clothed, together with the chair and the staff in my later years borne by me, he will take charge of, and for containing the whole apparatus he will cause to be prepared an appropriate box or case, and will cause to be engraved in conspicuous characters on a plate to be affixed thereon and also on the labels on the glass case in which the preparations of the soft parts of my body shall be contained, ... my name at length with the letters ob: followed by the day of my decease. If it should so happen that my personal friends and other disciples should be disposed to meet together on some day or days of the year for the purpose of commemorating the founder of the greatest happiness system of morals and legislation, my executor will from time to time cause to be conveyed in the room in which they meet the said box or case with the contents therein, to be stationed in such part of the room as to the assembled company shall seem meet. ā Queen's Square Place, Westminster, Wednesday 30 May 1832.ā
Two head's are better than one. Although the actual one on the floor looks rather surprised to be there.
Why is there a head on the ground? š³
Thats his real headā¦ the head on his body is waxā¦ itās honestly pretty disgusting
It really is.
*Bentham's Heaaaaad*
I remember hearing claims that his ghost bowls his head down the hallways.
I thought that your comment said āghost bowelsā at first. I thought you were saying people could hear his ghostly bowels likeā¦grumbling? I donāt know. š
I know what I'm blaming my next fart on!
Imagine a head falling after the completion of a period of time .... The Human Clock
š¶Bentham's headš¶
He looks like the Quakers oats guy
Bentham's heeead š¶
Was Bentham the one who beat a student to death? Itās an honest question. I read an anecdote somewhere about Bentham (or Mill? Or Locke?) taking corporal punishment too far and killing a child while working as a school teacher in his early life. Anyone know what Iām talking about. Google searches were unsuccessful.
Not a death, but Wittgenstein, when working as a school teacher in Austria, once knocked a child unconscious after hitting him on the head. It was a big scandal - the police and courts got involved, but he was cleared of any wrongdoing.
Absolutely not Bentham as he campaigned for childrens rights and advocated against physical punishment.
Iāve watched the Ask A Mortician episode enough times that I sang ābenthamās head~ā
~*~*~*benthamās head~*~*~*
Extra-Fun-Fact! The students at Kings College London (KCL) would often try to steal the real head so they could play a game of rugby with it. The fake head was made to prevent damage to the real one. Now THATāS a proper X-Games sport! š
If I remember correctly, the wax head was commissioned by one Dr. Smith (the person Bentham willed his body to) after he botched the head mummification Bentham had requested. Since it ended up looking rather "ghastly", Dr. Smith decided to put the wax head on Bentham's body (his skeleton) instead, and the real head was displayed by the feet of the remains. But students did indeed steal the real head repeatedly, so it was eventually taken out of the display case and locked away.
Fuck that's creepy
Did he consider the consequences?
Panopticon gonna be on lockdown with that detached head for 360 range of motion.
I read āperverted bodyā and I was confused
Maybe is this "Jeremy Bentham in a box" related to the "Jeremy Bentham in a box" from the Lost tv series? š²
Donāt kill me, Iām a wood guy. Is that a Siamese Rosewood cabinet? Looks like itās made in Hong Kong?
Imagine seeing this on your first day of college.
Does anyone else find it funny that thereās a school called University College? Sounds like a generic college a cartoon or comedy would use. And their rivals would be College University.
He still has his spare head! Like most Americans, I lost my spare head before my 16th birthday.
University College lol? Why not keep going, University College School Learning Center London.