The Ideas of Francis Hutcheson

Abstract

The ideas of Francis Hutcheson (see Biographical Notes) seemed to many to embody the origins of the Scottish Enlightenment; the classic nineteenth century writer, T. H. Buckle, wrote that:

Hutcheson … did not fear to construct a system of morals according to a plan entirely secular, and no example of which had been exhibited in Scotland before his time … Though he was a firm believer in revelation, he held that the best rules of conduct could be ascertained without its assistance, and could be arrived at by the unaided wit of man; and that, when arrived at, they were, in their aggregate to be respected as the Law of Nature. This confidence in the power of the human understanding was altogether new in Scotland and its appearance forms an epoch in the national literature.¹