Francis Hutcheson, Essay on the Nature and Conduct of the Passions with Illustrations on the Moral Sense

Daniel Floyd (University of Aberdeen)

The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.2.3: Scottish Writing and Culture, 400-present.
Vol. editors: Kate Ash-Irisarri (University of Edinburgh), Daniel Cook (University of Dundee), Gina Lyle (University of Glasgow), J. Derrick McClure (University of Aberdeen), Andrew Radford (University of Glasgow)

Domains

Philosophy (any)

Dates

First circulation or publication 1728

Places

Scotland (Country of Origin)

Genres and Modes

Treatise

Resources

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Recommended Reading

Comprising two treatises, Francis Hutcheson’s

An Essay on the Nature and Conduct of the Passions and Affections. With Illustrations on the Moral Sense

(1728) was his second major publication that sought to refute the doctrine that self-interest was the supreme guiding principle of all rational actions. Hutcheson devised the concept of a moral sense, which supplemented reason in determining the most effective ways to advance the well-being of society, to counter the egoism espoused by philosophers, such as Thomas Hobbes, whose

Leviathan, or The Matter, Forme, & Power of a Common-Wealth Ecclesiasticall and Civill

(1651) argued that individuals consented to be ruled by a monarch to restrain their supposedly natural inclination to mutual slaughter. To preclude a perpetual state of war, each…

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3880 words

Citation: Floyd, Daniel. "Essay on the Nature and Conduct of the Passions with Illustrations on the Moral Sense". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 21 September 2009 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=19834, accessed 24 April 2024.]

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