2000/03/09 by Isabel Rivers · 3 citations
Social Sciences · #American Constitutional Law and Politics #Archaeology #Art #Constitution #Epistemology #Foundation (evidence) #History #Interpretation (philosophy) #Law #Literature #Philosophy #Political science #Skepticism
paper · doi:10.1017/cbo9780511484476
openalex publication_date 2000/03/09 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/06/11
This volume completes Isabel Rivers' widely acclaimed exploration of the relationship between religion and ethics from the mid-seventeenth to the later eighteenth centuries. She investigates the effect of attempts to separate ethics from religion, and to locate the foundation of morals in the constitution of human nature. Focusing on moral philosophy and the educational institutions in which (or in spite of which) these ideas were developed, the book pays close attention to the movement of ideas through the British Isles, in particular the spread of Shaftesbury's thought from England to Ireland and Scotland, and the varied reception of Hume's scepticism north and south of the border. It also demonstrates the enormous influence of Shaftesbury's moral thought and the ultimate triumph of the English interpretation of Shaftesbury with the rise of Butler. Meticulously researched and accessibly written, this volume makes a vital contribution to our understanding of eighteenth-century thought.