Bentham found reality unproblematic and fictions philosophically complicated.

Evidence

It is perhaps because in Bentham’s eyes reality is unproblematic and its existence unquestionable that things become complicated in the field of the unreal, the non-existent, i.e. in the field of fictions. — Jeremy Bentham, The Panopticon Writings, 4

Categorization

• DEFINE: Clarifies Bentham’s ontology of fictions — the non-existent is where his theoretical difficulties lie.
• QUESTION: worth chasing: how does the unreal ‘sustain’ reality in Bentham’s system, and does this prefigure the panopticon’s reliance on an imaginary nonentity?
• XREF: connects to: Bentham distinguishes necessary logical fiction from deceptive priestly and legal fiction — Jeremy Bentham, The Panopticon Writings, 409

Related

• Every fictitious entity must be discussed as if it were real (similarity 0.83)
• No higher language could exist without the fiction that dresses abstractions as real (similarity 0.82)
• Bentham distinguishes necessary logical fiction from deceptive priestly and legal fiction (similarity 0.81)

Broader Connections

• Bentham distinguishes necessary logical fiction from deceptive priestly and legal fiction #expands (0.85) — Jeremy Bentham, The Panopticon Writings, 409