An Essay on the Nature and Conduct of the Passions and Affections, with Illustrations upon the Moral Sense

Francis Hutcheson's An Essay on the Nature and Conduct of the Passions and Affections, with Illustrations upon the Moral Sense (1728) explores the concept of a "moral sense". Hutcheson, a major proponent of this theory, believed that humans possess internal senses, including a moral sense, which instinctively guides them to approve of virtuous actions and disapprove of vicious ones. He posited that this moral sense is innate and operates prior to a knowledge of God.1

Hutcheson's ethical criterion was the promotion of the general welfare of mankind, anticipating the utilitarian principle of "the greatest happiness for the greatest number". This work, along with his others, established ethics and aesthetics as central philosophical inquiries, influencing later thinkers like David Hume.123