Joseph Butler
English bishop and moralist: happiness comes from satisfying particular affections, not from the self-love that aims at it.
Life
Anglican bishop and moral philosopher (1692-1752), bishop of Bristol then of Durham. He holds that conscience is the supreme authority in morality, and that happiness comes from satisfying particular desires rather than from pursuing one's own interest directly. His Analogy of Religion defends Christian faith with arguments from probability.
Main works
Defends conscience as moral guide and criticizes Hobbes's egoism.
Argues that the difficulties of religion resemble those of nature and do not refute it.
Objects to Locke that consciousness presupposes personal identity rather than constituting it.
In his own words
« One should really think it self-evident, that consciousness of personal identity presupposes, and therefore cannot constitute, personal identity »
Positions
click a row to see the evidenceArgues that the world's course and our nature point to a wise and good Author, and defends the probability of religion.
Butler, The Analogy of Religion (1736)
Probability is the very guide of life: we rarely have certainty and must act on likelihood.
Butler, The Analogy of Religion (1736), Introduction
He argues that the doctrine of necessity, even if granted, changes nothing in practice: we act and are judged as free agents.
Butler, The Analogy of Religion (1736), I.vi
Conscience is the supreme authority in us: the right act is the one conscience approves, not just what pleases.
Butler, Fifteen Sermons (1726), Sermon II
Conscience discovers a real moral order that holds whatever we want.
Butler, Fifteen Sermons (1726), Sermons II-III
Human nature is made for virtue: we have real benevolence, and conscience governs our other impulses.
Butler, Fifteen Sermons (1726), Sermons I-III