_title_page.png) Title page of Volume 1 of the first edition (1755) | |
| Author | Francis Hutcheson |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Subject | Moral philosophy |
| Genre | Treatise |
| Published | 1755 |
| Publisher | R. and A. Foulis |
| Publication place | Kingdom of Great Britain |
| Media type | |
| Pages | 358 (volume 1); 380 (volume 2) |
| OCLC | 8647481 |
A System of Moral Philosophy, in Three Books is a 1755 philosophical treatise by theScottish Enlightenment philosopherFrancis Hutcheson. Completed shortly before his death and published posthumously by his son,Francis Hutcheson the younger, the work includes a prefatory biographical account byWilliam Leechman, thenProfessor of Divinity at theUniversity of Glasgow.
The two-volume work presents Hutcheson's most comprehensive and systematic account ofmoral philosophy, encompassingethics,natural law, andpolitical theory. It defends Hutcheson'stheory of a moral sense as the basis of virtue, examines the nature of justice, rights, and obligations, and outlines principles ofcivil government grounded in human sociability and consent. The treatise synthesises and expands upon themes from Hutcheson's earlier writings.
Modern scholars have drawn attention to the book's early articulation of moral concern for nonhuman animals. Interpreters such as Aaron Garrett and Michael Bradie highlight Hutcheson's claim that animals possess a right not to suffer needlessly, situating the work as an early contribution to the development ofanimal ethics andanimal rights discourse.
%2c_Professor_of_Moral_Philosophy_at_the_University_of_Glasgow.jpg)
Francis Hutcheson (1694–1746) was a central figure of theScottish Enlightenment and one of the most influentialmoral philosophers of the eighteenth century. As the teacher ofAdam Smith and a major influence onDavid Hume andJeremy Bentham, Hutcheson helped lay the groundwork for laterutilitarian thought with his principle that morally right actions are those that tend to promote the general good. He was the foremost advocate of themoral sense theory, which, followingShaftesbury, held that moral judgments arise primarily from feeling rather than reason. His ideas were widely discussed in Britain and the American colonies, where his political philosophy influenced revolutionary thinkers. Hutcheson began work onA System of Moral Philosophy in 1738 and continued to revise it until his death.[1]
InA System of Moral Philosophy, Hutcheson develops a comprehensiveethical theory based on the internal constitution ofhuman nature, the concept ofnatural rights, and the structure ofcivil society.
In the first book, Hutcheson examines the faculties of the human mind, distinguishing between understanding, will, and the affections. He introduces his moral sense theory, asserting that humans have an innate capacity to perceive moral beauty and deformity. This "moral sense" is distinct from self-love and enables moral judgments. He defends the existence of disinterested benevolence and argues that the supreme happiness of humanity consists in the exercise of virtue—understood as benevolence guided by reason. The book also explores the relation of virtue to divine providence and natural religion.
The second book sets out the foundations ofnatural law. Hutcheson outlines the principles of obligation, focusing on contracts, property rights, and duties between individuals. He distinguishes between perfect and imperfect rights, emphasising that justice involves a respect for the rights of others, while benevolence encompasses duties that cannot be legally enforced. The book addresses topics such as oaths and promises, the value of goods, economic justice, and the basis of legal obligation. He insists that all laws must be evaluated by their conformity to reason, public good, and natural equity.
In the third book, Hutcheson turns to political theory. He analyses the origins of civil government, arguing that it arises naturally from human sociability and the necessity of securing rights and order. He describes various forms of polity—monarchy, aristocracy, democracy—and discusses their respective advantages and drawbacks. Topics include marriage and family, parental authority, slavery, magistracy, taxation, civil laws, and the justice of war. Hutcheson maintains that the legitimacy of government rests on the consent of the governed and the promotion of the common good, and he articulates a theory of limited, accountable political power grounded in natural rights.
'Tis true these creatures are capable of some happiness and misery; their sufferings naturally move our compassion. We approve relieving them in many cases, and must condemn all unnecessary cruelty toward them as showing an inhuman temper.
Scholars such as Aaron Garrett have interpreted A System of Moral Philosophy as articulating one of the earliest Anglophone arguments foranimal rights. In a 2007 article in theJournal of the History of Philosophy, he argues that Hutcheson departed from earlier natural law theorists by grounding rights not in rational agency but insentience and the capacity for suffering. Hutcheson contends that animals have a right not to be subjected to unnecessary suffering, drawing parallels with the moral regard owed to infants. Garrett places Hutcheson within an alternative tradition of rights theory, distinct from theLockean model, that would later influence figures such asHumphrey Primatt andJeremy Bentham.[3]
Michael Bradie observes that Hutcheson provides a theistic justification for human dominion over animals based on the superior rational capacities of human beings. At the same time, Hutcheson acknowledges that animals are capable of suffering and insists that unnecessary cruelty is morally wrong. While he denies that animals possess rights which override human needs, he argues that they have a right not to suffer needlessly, drawing an analogy to the moral consideration owed to infants. Bradie characterises this position as a proto-utilitarian attempt to balance human interests withanimal welfare, while maintaining a hierarchical view of moral standing grounded in cognitive capacity.[4]
The Eighteenth-Century Scottish Studies Society has described the work as a major contribution to the study of the Scottish Enlightenment, describing the "System" as Hutcheson's final and most comprehensive statement on moral philosophy and a landmark in the intellectual history of the period.[1]
The book was printed and sold byR. and A. Foulis, printers to theUniversity of Glasgow, and distributed in London by A. Millar andT. Longman. It was released in two volumes in 1755, five years after Hutcheson's death, and published posthumously by his son,Francis Hutcheson the younger.[5]
A new edition was published in 2000 byThoemmes, with an introduction by Daniel Carey, and later republished byA & C Black in 2006.[1][6] This was followed by a 2015 edition byCambridge University Press.[7]
