Work

Hutcheson’s Deceptive Hedonism

Year: 2010

Type: article

Abstract: Francis Hutcheson’s theory of value is often characterized as a precursor to the qualitative hedonism of John Stuart Mill. In this paper, I seek to argue that this reading is mistaken. The evidence for Hutcheson as a qualitative hedonist is strong and striking. The most commonly cited passages are taken from his posthumous opus, A System of Moral Philosophy . However, a closer look at Hutcheson’s moral psychology, including his account of the interplay between pleasure and the moral and evaluative senses, shows that we do no disservice by reading him as a purely quantitative hedonist. Hutcheson’s hedonism is for that reason deceptive, and deceptively simple.

Source: Journal of the history of philosophy

DOI: 10.1353/hph.2010.0017

Author: Dale Dorsey

Institution: University of Kansas

Language: English

Topic: Philosophical Ethics and Theory

Subfield: Philosophy

Field: Arts and Humanities

Domain: Social Sciences

Open Access status: green

OpenAlex ID: W2079879438

FWCI: 5.388

Cites: 11

Cited by: 19

Related to: 10