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Francis Hutcheson Research Paper

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Francis Hutcheson (1694-1746) was one of the most influential Scottish philosophers of the eighteenth-century. He is very well known for his application of the empirical methods in the field of ethics. The importance of his position in moral philosophy lies in his defence of the view that moral distinctions are derived from a moral sense. “For historians and political scientists, the emphasis has been on his theories of liberalism and political rights; for philosophers and psychologists, Hutcheson’s importance comes from his theories of human nature, which include an account of an innate care and concern for others and of the internal senses (including the moral sense)” . Hutcheson’s philosophy and writings serve as the foundations to study the works of Adam Smith, his most famous student, and the moral and political theories of David Hume. …show more content…

Though he was born in Ireland, at the age of 16 he was send to Glasgow for his university studies where he studied Philosophy, Latin and Greek, and literature in general in the first four years. And in the last two years he studied theology as a preparation for his future ministry. After the studies in Glasgow, at the request of the Presbyterian clergymen he opened a private academy in Dublin and it was a great success. During his stay at Dublin he published his best known works. They were An Inquiry into the original of our ideas of Beauty and virtue (1725) Inquiry Concerning Moral Good and Evil, An Essay on the Nature and Conduct of the Passions and Affections, with Illustrations upon the Moral Sense (1728). With these works he became famous in the field of philosophy and his growing reputation led him to be elected to the chair of moral philosophy in the University of Glasgow in

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