An Essay on the Nature and Conduct of the Passions

Natural Law and Enlightenment Classics

by Francis Hutcheson, Aaron Garrett (Editor)

In An Essay on the Nature and Conduct of the Passions and Affections, with Illustrations on the Moral Sense, Francis Hutcheson answers the criticism that had been leveled against his first book Inquiry into the Original of Our Ideas of Beauty and Virtue (1725). Together the two works constitute the great innovation in philosophy for which Hutcheson is most well known.

The first half of the Essay presents a rich moral psychology built on a theory of the passions and an account of motivation, deepening and augmenting the doctrine of moral sense developed in the Inquiry . The second half of the work, the Illustrations, is a brilliant attack on rationalist moral theories and is the font of many of the arguments taken up by Hume and used to this day.

As editor Aaron Garrett notes, “In the Essay Hutcheson provides his crucial argument against Hobbes and Mandeville, that not just egoistic self-preservation, but also benevolence, is an essential feature of human nature.”

Professor Garrett has constructed a critical variorum edition of this great work. Because there are no manuscripts of the work, this could be done only by comparing all extant lifetime editions. Three such editions exist: those of 1728, 1730 (chiefly a reprint of the 1728 edition), and 1742. The Liberty Fund edition collates the first edition with Hutcheson’s revision of 1742.

Francis Hutcheson was a crucial link between the continental European natural law tradition and the emerging Scottish Enlightenment. Hence, he is a pivotal figure in the Natural Law and Enlightenment Classics series. A contemporary of Lord Kames and George Turnbull, an acquaintance of David Hume, and the teacher of Adam Smith, Hutcheson was arguably the leading figure in making Scotland distinctive within the general European Enlightenment.

Aaron Garrett is Associate Professor of Philosophy at Boston University.

Knud Haakonssen is Professor of Intellectual History and Director of the Centre for Intellectual History at the University of Sussex, England.

Genres: Philosophy

256 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1969

About the author

Francis Hutcheson was an Irish philosopher born in Ulster to a family of Scottish Presbyterians who became known as one of the founding fathers of the Scottish Enlightenment. He is remembered for his book A System of Moral Philosophy.

Hutcheson took ideas from John Locke, and he was an important influence on the works of several significant Enlightenment thinkers, including David Hume and Adam Smith.

Reviews

[Станислав · Rating 3 out of 5]

Книга шотландского философа Хатченсона посвящена исследованию морали и страстей всего с ними связанного. Хатченсон не слишком известен у нас, зато на его книгах выросло поколение отцов-основателей США, тем более некоторые из учеников Хатченсона перебрались в 13 колоний. Возможно это не та самая книга которая подготовила почву для текста Декларации прав и Конституции. Не могу сказать, что справился с английским первой половины 18 века, ещё в шотландском исполнении и орфографии. Здесь скорее: просмотрел по диагонали. Это, во многом, развивает идеи Джона Локка о восприятии, tabula rasa и управлении разумом. Мир казался простым и чистым, как часовой механизм, а мир человеческих страстей и желаний - рациональным и контролируемым. Всегда считал, что где-то между 17 и 18 веком в культурном плане европейская цивилизация была наиболее здоровой.

[Nathan G. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hutcheson here defends the moral system he laid out in his Inquiry. Although some of the further illustrations and examples are helpful, most are aimed at combating very specific 18th century philosophical arguments, most of which no longer have much relevance.

[Erik Graff · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was assigned this as part of a teaching assistantship, probably to cull portions relevant to some research my boss was doing. A facsimile edition, I didn't much enjoy reading the antiquated script. As regards the views of the author, his postulation of "moral" and other senses on a virtual par with the physical ones seemed a cheap evasion of the ethical problematic I was concerned about. Basically, he affirms that people are naturally moral, a position not too unlike Rousseau's, though they can be perverted. This hardly seemed to address the imaginary interlocutor I concerned myself with, the Hobbesian individualist or modern sociopath who would say that all interest is self-interest or, even worse, such a one as might be imagined by de Sade who would even challenge any prudential sense of self-interest. What does one say to such a person? What arguments can be made which will compel assent?

For what it's worth, the best arguments I'd become familiar with were the deontological with all of their circularity.

[Tonia · Rating 3 out of 5]

This text was difficult to read for because its language seemed very ambiguous. So I had a difficult time ascertaing what the author was saying at times. Perhaps because C18 is not my area of study so I'm not as familiar with the language. But, this text is important to C18 studies and for that reason I found parts of it invaluable.

[Craig Bolton]

"An Essay on the Nature and Conduct of the Passions and Affections, with Illustrations on the Moral Sense (Natural Law and Enlightenment Classics) by Francis Hutcheson (2003)"