Summary |
Francis Hutcheson (1694–1746) was born in Ireland but was educated and spent his career in Scotland at the University of Glasgow, where he was professor and chair of moral philosophy from 1729 until his death. Hutcheson is generally considered a key figure, and sometimes even the ‘father’, of the Scottish Enlightenment, especially considering his ideas had such an important impact on figures like Hume, Smith, and Reid. Hutcheson is best known for his theory of the moral sense and his sentimentalist moral theory more generally, wherein he provided an early formulation of the utilitarian principle of ‘the greatest happiness for the greatest number’, among other things. He also made a significant contribution to early aesthetic theory, and his works were not only translated and discussed in places like Germany, where he had an influence on Kant, but were also discussed in the American colonies both at colleges and by writers on slavery and colonial independence. |