Joseph Butler ( English Joseph Butler ) - English moral philosopher.
| Joseph Butler | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Date of Birth | May 18 (29), 1692 |
| Place of Birth | , United Kingdom |
| Date of death | June 16, 1752 (aged 60) |
| Place of death | Bath , UK |
| A country | |
| Alma mater | |
| Language (s) of works | |
| School / tradition | british empiricism |
Content
Biography
In 1715 he entered the Oriel College of Oxford. In 1718, after receiving a degree and initiation, he was appointed a preacher to a church in London . In 1738, the bishop in Bristol . In 1740, rector of St. Paul’s Cathedral . In 1747, the cabinet secretary of King George II .
Views
Critic of psychological hedonism and selfishness . He proposed a peculiar concept of moral consciousness. He made a significant contribution to the development of deontological ethics. Researchers note Butler's desire to deal with such theoretical issues that affect people's moral decisions. His consideration of the structure of the world as a whole and the structure of human nature is intended to protect virtue in times of moral licentiousness. He defends religion in times of indifference and skepticism towards it. Offering two ways of considering moral issues (a method starting with consideration of the abstract relations of things, and a method going from observing and studying facts), he considers the latter method to be the most suitable. True virtue lies in action that is consistent with the whole structure of nature. And in this device, "conscience" is the highest authority.
Criticism of Deism
In 1736 he published the book The Analogy of Religion, Natural and Revealed, to the Constitution and Course of Nature, which contained arguments against deism . He demonstrated that the natural religion , or the religion based on the mind - for which the deists advocated - is no better than the religion of revelation [1] . The historian Will Durant said that this book "for a century remained the main Christian argument against unbelief" [2] .
Notes
- ↑ Joseph Butler . - article from Encyclopædia Britannica Online . Released July 20, 2019. “his most celebrated work, The Analogy of Religion, Natural and Revealed, to the Constitution and Course of Nature, attacking Deist writers whose approach to God consisted in arguing rationally from nature rather than from faith in the doctrine of revelation. Butler sought to demonstrate that nature and natural religion were encumbered with the same kind of uncertainties as revealed religion. The book, together with the Wesleyan revival, silenced the importance of Christian Deism in England. "
- ↑ Will and Ariel Durant, The Age of Voltaire . New York: Simon & Schuster, 1965, p. 125 "remained for a century the chief buttress of Christian argument against unbelief."
Literature
- Fifteen Sermons Preached at the Rolls Chapel Upon the following Subjects. Upon Humane Nature. Upon the Government of the Tongue. Upon Compassion. Upon the Character of Balaam. Upon Resentment. Upon Forgiveness of Injuries. Upon Self-Deceit. Upon the Love of our Neighbor. Upon the Love of God. Upon the Ignorance of Man. By Joseph Butler, LLB Preacher at the Rolls, and Rector of Stanhope in the Bishoprick of Durham. London: Printed by W. Botham, for James and John Knapton, 1726, 312p.
- Second edition. London: James and John Knapton, 1729, xxxiv, 318p.
- Third edition. London: James, John and Paul Knapton, 1736, xxxiv, 318p.
- Fifteen Sermons preached at the Rolls Chapel .... To which are added six sermons preached on publick occasions. Fourth edition. London: printed for John & Paul Knapton, 1749, xxxiv, 480p.
- Joseph Butler 'Moral and Religious Thought. Tercentenary Essays. Oxford, 1992.
- Bartlett Thomas Memoirs of the Life, Character and Writings of Joseph Butler. London, 1839.
- Stephen L. History of English Thought in the Eighteenth Centure. NY, 1876.
- Kyle, WM "British Ethical Theories: The Place and Importance of Butler." // Australasian Journal of Philosophy. 7 (1929) 252-262.
- Windsor, ACA "Bishop Butler and the Contemporary Ethics." // Church Quarterly Review. 168 (1967) 181-190.
- British moralists. 1650-1800. Vol.I. Oxford, 1969.
- Stewart, Robert M. Butler's Argument Against Psychological Hedonism. // Canadian Journal of Philosophy 22 (1992) P. 211-221.
- Ward, David. The Solution of the Problem of Personal Identity Via Locke, Butler and Hume // Locke Newsletter. 25 (1994.) P. Z53-63.
- Butler J. Sermon XI. About love to the neighbor. Foreword and translation by M.P. Kosykh. // Metaphysical research. SPb., 2005. Issue 216. S.209-221.
See also
- Altruism