After Christian Wolff, here is
still another “insignificant” philosopher whose importance to philosophy far exceeds
his share of recognition. The philosopher in question has never been acknowledged as
an authentic member of the philosophical elite. Having said that, the
good reason for writing such an entry on him at all is the important remark of
Lord Bertrand Russell in his History of
Western Philosophy, in the chapter on the Utilitarians and on Jeremy
Bentham (!!!) in particular.---
“…There
is nothing new in this (Bentham’s) doctrine, which came to be called utilitarianism. It had been advocated by Hutcheson as early
as 1725. Bentham attributes it to Priestley (a
much later arrival!), who, however, had no
special claim to it... Bentham’s merit consisted not in the doctrine, but in
his vigorous application of it to various practical problems.” (Thus, theoretically, Bentham was not original… nota
bene!)
My Webster’s Biographical Dictionary is hardly generous to Hutcheson,
affording him a mere three short lines:
“Hutcheson,
Francis. 1694-1746. Scottish philosopher; professor, Glasgow (1729-1746);
author of System of Moral Philosophy (pub.
1755).”
And finally, a little more recognition,
courtesy of the Wikipedia.---
“The
Rev. Francis Hutcheson… was an Irish philosopher born in Ireland to a family of
Scottish Presbyterians, who became one of the founding fathers of the Scottish Enlightenment. Hutcheson was an
important influence on the works of several significant Enlightenment thinkers,
including David Hume and Adam Smith.”
Here is a far more generous
acknowledgment of Hutcheson’s importance to the history of philosophy, and a
still greater reason for me to include him as a separate entry in this section…
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