Philosopher
Joseph Butler
Overview
Joseph Butler (18 May 1692 O.S. – 16 June 1752 O.S.) was an English Anglican bishop, theologian, apologist, and philosopher, born in Wantage in the English county of Berkshire (now in Oxfordshire). His principal works are the Fifteen Sermons Preached at the Rolls Chapel (1726) and The Analogy of Religion (1736).
He is known for critiques of deism, Thomas Hobbes's egoism, and John Locke's theory of personal identity. The many philosophers and religious thinkers Butler influenced included David Hume, Thomas Reid, Adam Smith, Henry Sidgwick, John Henry Newman, and C. D. Broad, and is widely seen as "one of the pre-eminent English moralists." He played a major, if underestimated role in developing 18th-century economic discourse, influencing political economist Josiah Tucker.
Overview adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0; see the article history for authors).
Philosophers who discussed Joseph Butler
Ideas Joseph Butler discusses
- Empiricism
- Anglicanism
- Philosophy
- Western philosophy
- Bachelor of Arts
- John Locke
- Adam Smith
- Samuel Clarke
- Christian philosophy
- Henry Sidgwick
- Oxford
- Archbishop of Canterbury
- Presbyterianism
- Apologetics
- John Toland
- Will Durant
- Christian theology
- Thomas Reid
- Thomas Hobbes
- Theology
- Personal identity
- Oxfordshire
- Church of England
- David Hume
Place in the tradition
Part of British philosophy.