Anthony Ashley Cooper, 3rd Earl of Shaftesbury (26 February 1671 – 16 February 1713) was an English peer,
Whig politician, philosopher and writer.
Early life
He was born at
Exeter House in London, the son and first child of the future
Anthony Ashley Cooper, 2nd Earl of Shaftesbury and his wife
Lady Dorothy Manners, daughter of
John Manners, 8th Earl of Rutland.
Letters sent to his parents reveal
emotional manipulation attempted by his mother in refusing to see her son unless he cut off all ties to his sickly and secluded father. At the age of three Ashley-Cooper was made over to the formal guardianship of his grandfather
Anthony Ashley Cooper, 1st Earl of Shaftesbury
Anthony Ashley Cooper, 1st Earl of Shaftesbury PC, FRS (22 July 1621 – 21 January 1683), was an English statesman and peer. He held senior political office under both the Commonwealth of England and Charles II, serving as Chancellor of the ...
.
John Locke
John Locke (; 29 August 1632 (Old Style and New Style dates, O.S.) – 28 October 1704 (Old Style and New Style dates, O.S.)) was an English philosopher and physician, widely regarded as one of the most influential of the Enlightenment thi ...
, as medical attendant to the Ashley household, was entrusted with the supervision of his education. It was conducted according to the principles of Locke's ''
Some Thoughts Concerning Education
''Some Thoughts Concerning Education'' is a 1693 treatise on the education of gentlemen written by the English philosopher John Locke. For over a century, it was the most important philosophical work on education in England. It was translat ...
'' (1693), and the method of teaching
Latin
Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...
and
Greek
Greek may refer to:
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...
conversationally was pursued by his instructress, Elizabeth Birch. At the age of eleven, it is said, Ashley could read both languages with ease. Birch had moved to Clapham and Ashley spent some years there with her.
In 1683, after the death of the first Earl, his father sent Lord Ashley, as he now was by courtesy, to
Winchester College
Winchester College is an English Public school (United Kingdom), public school (a long-established fee-charging boarding school for pupils aged 13–18) with some provision for day school, day attendees, in Winchester, Hampshire, England. It wa ...
. Under a Scottish tutor, Daniel Denoune, he began a continental tour with two older companions,
Sir John Cropley, 2nd Baronet, and
Thomas Sclater Bacon.
Under William and Mary
After the
Glorious Revolution
The Glorious Revolution, also known as the Revolution of 1688, was the deposition of James II and VII, James II and VII in November 1688. He was replaced by his daughter Mary II, Mary II and her Dutch husband, William III of Orange ...
, Lord Ashley returned to England in 1689. It took five years, but he entered public life, as a parliamentary candidate for the
borough of Poole, and was returned on 21 May 1695. He spoke for the Bill for Regulating Trials in Cases of Treason, one provision of which was that a person indicted for
treason
Treason is the crime of attacking a state (polity), state authority to which one owes allegiance. This typically includes acts such as participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to Coup d'état, overthrow its government, spy ...
or
misprision of treason should be allowed the assistance of counsel.
Although a
Whig, Ashley was not partisan. His poor health forced him to retire from parliament at the dissolution of July 1698. He suffered from
asthma
Asthma is a common long-term inflammatory disease of the airways of the lungs. It is characterized by variable and recurring symptoms, reversible airflow obstruction, and easily triggered bronchospasms. Symptoms include episodes of wh ...
. The following year, to escape the London environment, he purchased a property in
Little Chelsea,
adding a 50-foot extension to the existing building to house his bedchamber and Library, and planting fruit trees and vines. He sold the property to
Narcissus Luttrell in 1710.
He was
Lord Proprietor
A lord proprietor is a person granted a royal charter for the establishment and government of an English colony in the 17th century. The plural of the term is "lords proprietors" or "lords proprietary".
Origin
In the beginning of the Europe ...
of the English colony of Carolina in North America and the Bahamas during this time.
Lord Ashley moved to the
Netherlands
, Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...
. Away for over a year, Ashley returned to England, and shortly succeeded his father as
Earl of Shaftesbury. He took an active part, on the Whig side in the
House of Lords
The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the lower house, the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. One of the oldest ext ...
, in the
January 1701 English general election, and again, with more success, in the
November 1701 English general election.
Under Queen Anne
After the first few weeks of
Anne
Anne, alternatively spelled Ann, is a form of the Latin female name Anna (name), Anna. This in turn is a representation of the Hebrew Hannah (given name), Hannah, which means 'favour' or 'grace'. Related names include Annie (given name), Annie a ...
's reign, Shaftesbury, who had been deprived of the vice-admiralty of
Dorset
Dorset ( ; Archaism, archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by Somerset to the north-west, Wiltshire to the north and the north-east, Hampshire to the east, t ...
, returned to private life. In August 1703, he again settled in the
Netherlands
, Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...
. At
Rotterdam
Rotterdam ( , ; ; ) is the second-largest List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city in the Netherlands after the national capital of Amsterdam. It is in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of South Holland, part of the North S ...
he lived, he says in a letter to his steward Wheelock, at the rate of less than £200 a year, and yet had much to dispose of and spend beyond convenient living.
Shaftesbury returned to England in August 1704, he landed at
Aldeburgh,
Suffolk
Suffolk ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and East Anglia. It is bordered by Norfolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Essex to the south, and Cambridgeshire to the west. Ipswich is the largest settlement and the county ...
having escaped a dangerous storm during his voyage. He had symptoms of
consumption, and gradually became an invalid. He continued to take an interest in politics, both home and foreign, and supported England's participation in the
War of the Spanish Succession
The War of the Spanish Succession was a European great power conflict fought between 1701 and 1714. The immediate cause was the death of the childless Charles II of Spain in November 1700, which led to a struggle for control of the Spanish E ...
.
The declining state of Shaftesbury's health rendered it necessary for him to seek a warmer climate and in July 1711 he set out for Italy. He settled at
Naples
Naples ( ; ; ) is the Regions of Italy, regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 908,082 within the city's administrative limits as of 2025, while its Metropolitan City of N ...
in November, and lived there for more than a year.
Death
Shaftesbury died at
Chiaia
Chiaia (, ) is an affluent neighbourhood on the seafront in Naples, Italy, bounded by Piazza Vittoria on the east and Mergellina on the west. Chiaia is one of the wealthiest districts in Naples, and many luxury brands have shops on its main stree ...
in the
Kingdom of Naples
The Kingdom of Naples (; ; ), officially the Kingdom of Sicily, was a state that ruled the part of the Italian Peninsula south of the Papal States between 1282 and 1816. It was established by the War of the Sicilian Vespers (1282–1302). Until ...
, on 15 February 1713 (N.S.) His body was brought back to England and buried at
Wimborne St Giles
Wimborne St Giles is a village and civil parish in east Dorset, England, on Cranborne Chase, north of Wimborne Minster and north of Poole. The village lies within the Shaftesbury estate, owned by the Earls of Shaftesbury, Earl of Shaftesbury. ...
, the family seat in Dorset.
Associations
John Toland was an early associate, but Shaftesbury after some time found him a troublesome ally. Toland published a draft of the ''Inquiry concerning Virtue'', without permission. Shaftesbury may have exaggerated its faults, but the relationship cooled.
Toland edited 14 letters from Shaftesbury to
Robert Molesworth, published in Toland in 1721. Molesworth had been a good friend from the 1690s. Other friends among English Whigs were
Charles Davenant,
Andrew Fletcher of Saltoun
Andrew Fletcher of Saltoun (1655 – September 1716) was a Scottish writer and politician, remembered as an advocate for the non-incorporation of Scotland, and an opponent of the 1707 Acts of Union 1707, Act of Union between Scotland and Engla ...
,
Walter Moyle
Walter Moyle (1672–1721) was an English politician and political writer, an advocate of classical republicanism.
Life
He was born at Bake, Cornwall, Bake in St Germans, Cornwall, St Germans, Cornwall, on 3 November 1672, the third, but eldes ...
,
William Stephens and
John Trenchard.
From Locke's circle in England, Shaftesbury knew
Edward Clarke,
Damaris Masham and
Walter Yonge. In the Netherlands in the late 1690s, he got to know Locke's contact
Benjamin Furly. Through Furly he had introductions to become acquainted with
Pierre Bayle
Pierre Bayle (; 18 November 1647 – 28 December 1706) was a French philosopher, author, and lexicographer. He is best known for his '' Historical and Critical Dictionary'', whose publication began in 1697. Many of the more controversial ideas ...
,
Jean Leclerc and
Philipp van Limborch. Bayle introduced him to
Pierre Des Maizeaux.
Letters from Shaftesbury to Benjamin Furly, his two sons, and his clerk Harry Wilkinson, were included in a volume entitled ''Original Letters of Locke, Sidney and Shaftesbury'', published by
Thomas Ignatius Maria Forster
Thomas Ignatius Maria Forster (9 November 1789 – 2 February 1860) was an English astronomer, physician, naturalist and philosopher. An early animal rights activist, he promoted vegetarianism and founded the Animals' Friend Society with Lewis ...
(1830, and in enlarged form, 1847).
Shaftesbury was a patron of Michael Ainsworth, a young Dorset man of
Wimborne St Giles
Wimborne St Giles is a village and civil parish in east Dorset, England, on Cranborne Chase, north of Wimborne Minster and north of Poole. The village lies within the Shaftesbury estate, owned by the Earls of Shaftesbury, Earl of Shaftesbury. ...
, maintained by Shaftesbury at
University College, Oxford
University College, formally The Master and Fellows of the College of the Great Hall of the University commonly called University College in the University of Oxford and colloquially referred to as "Univ", is a Colleges of the University of Oxf ...
. The ''Letters to a Young Man at the University'' (1716) were addressed to Ainsworth. Others he supported included
Pierre Coste and
Paul Crellius.
Works
Most of the works for which Shaftesbury is known were completed in the period 1705 to 1710. He collected a number of those and other works in ''Characteristicks of Men, Manners, Opinions, Times'' (first edition 1711, anonymous, 3 vols.).
His philosophical work was limited to ethics, religion, and aesthetics where he highlighted the concept of the
sublime as an aesthetic quality.
Basil Willey wrote "
..his writings, though suave and polished, lack distinction of style
...
Contents of the ''Characteristicks''
This listing refers to the first edition. The later editions saw changes. The ''Letter on Design'' was first published in the edition of the ''Characteristicks'' issued in 1732.
;Volume I
The opening piece is ''A Letter Concerning Enthusiasm'', advocating
religious toleration
Religious tolerance or religious toleration may signify "no more than forbearance and the permission given by the adherents of a dominant religion for other religions to exist, even though the latter are looked on with disapproval as inferior, ...
, published anonymously in 1708. It was based on a letter sent to
John Somers, 1st Baron Somers of September 1707. At this time repression of the French
Camisards was topical. The second treatise is ''Sensus Communis: An Essay on the Freedom of Wit and Humour'', first published in 1709.
The third part is ''Soliloquy: or, Advice to an Author'', from 1710.
;Volume II
It opens with ''Inquiry Concerning Virtue and Merit'', based on a work from 1699. With this treatise, Shaftesbury became the founder of
moral sense theory.
It is accompanied by ''The Moralists, a Philosophical Rhapsody'', from 1709.
Shaftesbury himself regarded it as the most ambitious of his treatises. The main object of ''The Moralists'' is to propound a system of
natural theology
Natural theology is a type of theology that seeks to provide arguments for theological topics, such as the existence of a deity, based on human reason. It is distinguished from revealed theology, which is based on supernatural sources such as ...
, for
theodicy
In the philosophy of religion, a theodicy (; meaning 'vindication of God', from Ancient Greek θεός ''theos'', "god" and δίκη ''dikē'', "justice") is an argument that attempts to resolve the problem of evil that arises when all powe ...
. Shaftesbury believed in one God whose characteristic attribute is universal benevolence; in the moral government of the universe; and in a future state of man making up for the present life.
;Volume III
Entitled ''Miscellaneous Reflections'', this consisted of previously unpublished works.
From his stay at Naples there was ''A Notion of the Historical Draught or Tablature of the Judgment of Hercules''.
Philosophical moralist

Shaftesbury as a moralist opposed
Thomas Hobbes
Thomas Hobbes ( ; 5 April 1588 – 4 December 1679) was an English philosopher, best known for his 1651 book ''Leviathan (Hobbes book), Leviathan'', in which he expounds an influential formulation of social contract theory. He is considered t ...
. He was a follower of the
Cambridge Platonists
The Cambridge Platonists were an influential group of Platonist philosophers and Christian theologians at the University of Cambridge that existed during the 17th century. The leading figures were Ralph Cudworth and Henry More.
Group and its nam ...
, and like them rejected the way Hobbes collapsed moral issues into expediency. His first published work was an anonymous ''Preface'' to the sermons of
Benjamin Whichcote, a prominent Cambridge Platonist, published in 1698. In it he belaboured Hobbes and his
ethical egoism
In ethical philosophy, ethical egoism is the normative position that moral agents ''ought'' to act in their own self-interest. It differs from psychological egoism, which claims that people ''can only'' act in their self-interest. Ethical ego ...
, but also the commonplace
carrot and stick
The phrase "carrot and stick" is a metaphor for when two different methods of incentivisation are simultaneously employed; the "carrot", referring to the promising and giving of desired rewards in exchange for cooperation; and the "stick", refe ...
arguments of Christian moralists.
While Shaftesbury conformed in public to the
Church of England
The Church of England (C of E) is the State religion#State churches, established List of Christian denominations, Christian church in England and the Crown Dependencies. It is the mother church of the Anglicanism, Anglican Christian tradition, ...
, his private view of some of its doctrines was less respectful.
His starting point in the ''Characteristicks'', however, was indeed such a form of
ethical naturalism
Ethical naturalism (also called moral naturalism or naturalistic cognitivistic definism) is the meta-ethical view that holds that moral properties and facts are reducible to natural properties and can be studied through empirical or scientific me ...
as was common ground for Hobbes,
Bernard Mandeville and
Spinoza
Baruch (de) Spinoza (24 November 163221 February 1677), also known under his Latinized pen name Benedictus de Spinoza, was a philosopher of Portuguese-Jewish origin, who was born in the Dutch Republic. A forerunner of the Age of Enlightenmen ...
: appeal to self-interest. He divided moralists into
Stoics
Stoicism is a school of Hellenistic philosophy that flourished in ancient Greece and Rome. The Stoics believed that the universe operated according to reason, ''i.e.'' by a God which is immersed in nature itself. Of all the schools of ancient ...
and
Epicurean
Epicureanism is a system of philosophy founded 307 BCE based upon the teachings of Epicurus, an ancient Greek philosopher. Epicurus was an atomist and materialist, following in the steps of Democritus. His materialism led him to religious s ...
, identifying with the Stoics and their attention to the
common good
In philosophy, Common good (economics), economics, and political science, the common good (also commonwealth, common weal, general welfare, or public benefit) is either what is shared and beneficial for all or most members of a given community, o ...
. It made him concentrate on
virtue
A virtue () is a trait of excellence, including traits that may be morality, moral, social, or intellectual. The cultivation and refinement of virtue is held to be the "good of humanity" and thus is Value (ethics), valued as an Telos, end purpos ...
. He took Spinoza and
Descartes as the leading Epicureans of his time (in unpublished writings).
Shaftesbury examined man first as a unit in himself, and secondly socially. His major principle was harmony or balance, rather than
rationalism
In philosophy, rationalism is the Epistemology, epistemological view that "regards reason as the chief source and test of knowledge" or "the position that reason has precedence over other ways of acquiring knowledge", often in contrast to ot ...
. In man, he wrote,
"Whoever is in the least versed in this moral kind of architecture will find the inward fabric so adjusted, ..that the barely extending of a single passion too far or the continuance ..of it too long, is able to bring irrecoverable ruin and misery".
This version of a
golden mean doctrine that goes back to
Aristotle
Aristotle (; 384–322 BC) was an Ancient Greek philosophy, Ancient Greek philosopher and polymath. His writings cover a broad range of subjects spanning the natural sciences, philosophy, linguistics, economics, politics, psychology, a ...
was savaged by Mandeville, who slurred it as associated with a sheltered and comfortable life, Catholic
asceticism
Asceticism is a lifestyle characterized by abstinence from worldly pleasures through self-discipline, self-imposed poverty, and simple living, often for the purpose of pursuing Spirituality, spiritual goals. Ascetics may withdraw from the world ...
, and modern sentimental rusticity. On the other hand,
Jonathan Edwards adopted Shaftesbury's view that "all excellency is harmony, symmetry or proportion".
On man as a social creature, Shaftesbury argued that the egoist and the extreme
altruist are both imperfect. People, to contribute to the happiness of the whole, must fit in. He rejected the idea that humankind is naturally selfish; and the idea that altruism necessarily cuts across self-interest.
Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson (, 1743July 4, 1826) was an American Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the third president of the United States from 1801 to 1809. He was the primary author of the United States Declaration of Indepe ...
found this general and social approach attractive.
This move relied on a close parallel between moral and aesthetic criteria. In the English tradition, this appeal to a
moral sense was innovative. Primarily emotional and non-reflective, it becomes rationalised by education and use. Corollaries are that morality stands apart from theology, and the moral qualities of actions are determined apart from the
will of God
The will of God or divine will is a concept found in the Hebrew Bible, the New Testament, and a number of other texts and worldviews, according to which God's Will (philosophy), will is the cause of everything that exists.
Thomas Aquinas
Accord ...
; and that the moralist is not concerned to solve the problems of
free will
Free will is generally understood as the capacity or ability of people to (a) choice, choose between different possible courses of Action (philosophy), action, (b) exercise control over their actions in a way that is necessary for moral respon ...
and
determinism
Determinism is the Metaphysics, metaphysical view that all events within the universe (or multiverse) can occur only in one possible way. Deterministic theories throughout the history of philosophy have developed from diverse and sometimes ov ...
. Shaftesbury in this way opposed also what is to be found in Locke.
Reception
The conceptual framework used by Shaftesbury was representative of much thinking in the
early Enlightenment, and remained popular until the 1770s. When the ''Characteristicks'' appeared they were welcomed by Le Clerc and
Gottfried Leibniz
Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz (or Leibnitz; – 14 November 1716) was a German polymath active as a mathematician, philosopher, scientist and diplomat who is credited, alongside Isaac Newton, Sir Isaac Newton, with the creation of calculus in ad ...
. Among the English
deists Shaftesbury was significant, plausible and the most respectable.
By the Augustans
In terms of
Augustan literature, Shaftesbury's defence of
ridicule was taken as an entitlement to scoff, and to use ridicule as a "test of truth". Clerical authors operated on the assumption that he was a
freethinker.
Ezra Stiles, reading ''Characteristicks'' in 1748 without realising Shaftesbury had been marked down as a
deist
Deism ( or ; derived from the Latin term '' deus'', meaning "god") is the philosophical position and rationalistic theology that generally rejects revelation as a source of divine knowledge and asserts that empirical reason and observation ...
, was both impressed and sometimes shocked. Around this time
John Leland and
Philip Skelton stepped up a campaign against deist influence, tarnishing Shaftesbury's reputation.
While Shaftesbury wrote on ridicule in the 1712 edition of ''Characteristicks'', the modern scholarly consensus is that the uses of his views on it as a "test of truth" were a stretch. According to
Alfred Owen Aldridge, the "test of truth" phrase is not to be found in ''Characteristicks''; it was imposed on the Augustan debate by
George Berkeley
George Berkeley ( ; 12 March 168514 January 1753), known as Bishop Berkeley (Bishop of Cloyne of the Anglican Church of Ireland), was an Anglo-Irish philosopher, writer, and clergyman who is regarded as the founder of "immaterialism", a philos ...
.
The influence of Shaftesbury, and in particular ''The Moralists'', on ''
An Essay on Man
"An Essay on Man" is a poem published by Alexander Pope in 1733–1734. It was dedicated to Henry St John, 1st Viscount Bolingbroke (pronounced 'Bull-en-brook'), hence the opening line: "Awake, my St John...". It is an effort to rationalize or ...
'', was claimed in the 18th century by
Voltaire
François-Marie Arouet (; 21 November 169430 May 1778), known by his ''Pen name, nom de plume'' Voltaire (, ; ), was a French Age of Enlightenment, Enlightenment writer, philosopher (''philosophe''), satirist, and historian. Famous for his wit ...
(in his philosophical letter "On Pope"),
Lord Hervey and
Thomas Warton, and supported in recent times, for example by
Maynard Mack.
Alexander Pope
Alexander Pope (21 May 1688 Old Style and New Style dates, O.S. – 30 May 1744) was an English poet, translator, and satirist of the Age of Enlightenment, Enlightenment era who is considered one of the most prominent English poets of the early ...
did not mention Shaftesbury explicitly as a source: this omission has been understood in terms of the political divide, Pope being a Tory. Pope references the character Theocles from ''The Moralists'' in the ''
Dunciad'' (IV.487–490):
"Or that bright Image to our Fancy draw,
Which Theocles in raptur'd vision saw,
While thro' Poetic scenes the Genius roves,
Or wanders wild in Academic Groves".
In notes to these lines, Pope directed the reader to various passages in Shaftesbury's work.
In moral philosophy and its literary reflection
Shaftesbury's ethical system was rationalised by
Francis Hutcheson, and from him passed with modifications to
David Hume
David Hume (; born David Home; – 25 August 1776) was a Scottish philosopher, historian, economist, and essayist who was best known for his highly influential system of empiricism, philosophical scepticism and metaphysical naturalism. Beg ...
; these writers, however, changed from reliance on moral sense to the
deontological ethics
In moral philosophy, deontological ethics or deontology (from Greek: and ) is the normative ethical theory that the morality of an action should be based on whether that action itself is right or wrong under a series of rules and principles, ...
of moral obligation. From there it was taken up by
Adam Smith
Adam Smith (baptised 1723 – 17 July 1790) was a Scottish economist and philosopher who was a pioneer in the field of political economy and key figure during the Scottish Enlightenment. Seen by some as the "father of economics"——— or ...
, who elaborated a theory of
moral judgement with some restricted emotional input, and a complex apparatus taking context into account.
Joseph Butler
Joseph Butler (18 May 1692 Old Style and New Style dates, O.S. – 16 June 1752 Old Style and New Style dates, O.S.) was an English Anglican bishop, Christian theology, theologian, apologist, and philosopher, born in Wantage in the English count ...
adopted the system, but not ruling out the place of "
moral reason", a rationalist version of the affective moral sense.
Samuel Johnson
Samuel Johnson ( – 13 December 1784), often called Dr Johnson, was an English writer who made lasting contributions as a poet, playwright, essayist, moralist, literary critic, sermonist, biographer, editor, and lexicographer. The ''Oxford ...
, the American educator, did not accept Shaftesbury's moral sense as a given, but believed it might be available by intermittent divine intervention.
In the English
sentimental novel
The sentimental novel or the novel of sensibility is an 18th- and 19th-century literary genre which presents and celebrates the concepts of sentiment, sentimentalism, and sensibility. Sentimentalism, which is to be distinguished from sensi ...
of the 18th century, arguments from the Shaftesbury–Hutcheson tradition appear. An early example in
Mary Collyer
Mary Collyer (née Mitchell) (c. 1716 – 1763) was an English translator and novelist.
Life
Mary, whose maiden name was Mitchell, married Joseph Collyer the elder; their son, Joseph Collyer, Joseph Collyer the younger, was an engraver, and illu ...
's ''Felicia to Charlotte'' (vol.1, 1744) comes from its hero Lucius, who reasons in line with ''An Enquiry Concerning Virtue and Merit'' on the "moral sense". The second volume (1749) has discussions of
conduct book material, and makes use of the ''Philemon to Hydaspes'' (1737) of
Henry Coventry, described by Aldridge as "filled with favorable references to Shaftesbury." The eponymous hero of ''
The History of Sir Charles Grandison'' (1753) by
Samuel Richardson
Samuel Richardson (baptised 19 August 1689 – 4 July 1761) was an English writer and printer known for three epistolary novels: '' Pamela; or, Virtue Rewarded'' (1740), '' Clarissa: Or the History of a Young Lady'' (1748) and '' The Histo ...
has been described as embodying the "Shaftesburian model" of
masculinity
Masculinity (also called manhood or manliness) is a set of attributes, behaviors, and roles generally associated with men and boys. Masculinity can be theoretically understood as Social construction of gender, socially constructed, and there i ...
: he is "stoic, rational, in control, yet sympathetic towards others, particularly those less fortunate." ''
A Sentimental Journey Through France and Italy
''A Sentimental Journey Through France and Italy'' (1768) is a novel by Laurence Sterne. It follows the Reverend Mr. Yorick on a Picaresque novel, picaresque journey through France, narrated from a Sentimental novel, sentimental point of view. ...
'' (1768) by
Laurence Sterne
Laurence Sterne (24 November 1713 – 18 March 1768) was an Anglo-Irish novelist and Anglican cleric. He is best known for his comic novels ''The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman'' (1759–1767) and ''A Sentimental Journey Thro ...
was intended by its author to evoke the "sympathizing principle" on which the tradition founded by
latitudinarians, Cambridge Platonists and Shaftesbury relied.
Across Europe
In 1745
Denis Diderot
Denis Diderot (; ; 5 October 171331 July 1784) was a French philosopher, art critic, and writer, best known for serving as co-founder, chief editor, and contributor to the along with Jean le Rond d'Alembert. He was a prominent figure during th ...
adapted or reproduced the ''Inquiry concerning Virtue'' in what was afterwards known as his ''Essai sur le Mérite et la Vertu''. In 1769 a French translation of the whole of Shaftesbury's works, including the ''Letters'', was published at Geneva.
Translations of separate treatises into German began to be made in 1738, and in 1776–1779 there appeared a complete German translation of the ''Characteristicks''.
Hermann Theodor Hettner stated that not only Leibniz,
Voltaire
François-Marie Arouet (; 21 November 169430 May 1778), known by his ''Pen name, nom de plume'' Voltaire (, ; ), was a French Age of Enlightenment, Enlightenment writer, philosopher (''philosophe''), satirist, and historian. Famous for his wit ...
and Diderot, but
Gotthold Ephraim Lessing
Gotthold Ephraim Lessing (; ; 22 January 1729 – 15 February 1781) was a German philosopher, dramatist, publicist and art critic, and a representative of the Enlightenment era. His plays and theoretical writings substantially influenced the dev ...
,
Moses Mendelssohn
Moses Mendelssohn (6 September 1729 – 4 January 1786) was a German-Jewish philosopher and theologian. His writings and ideas on Jews and the Jewish religion and identity were a central element in the development of the ''Haskalah'', or 'J ...
,
Christoph Martin Wieland
Christoph Martin Wieland (; ; 5 September 1733 – 20 January 1813) was a German poet and writer, representative of literary Rococo. He is best-remembered for having written the first ''Bildungsroman'' (''Geschichte des Agathon''), as well as the ...
and
Johann Gottfried von Herder, drew from Shaftesbury.
Herder in early work took from Shaftesbury arguments for respecting individuality, and against system and universal psychology. He went on to praise him in ''Adrastea''.
Wilhelm von Humboldt
Friedrich Wilhelm Christian Karl Ferdinand von Humboldt (22 June 1767 – 8 April 1835) was a German philosopher, linguist, government functionary, diplomat, and founder of the Humboldt University of Berlin. In 1949, the university was named aft ...
found in Shaftesbury the "inward form" concept, key for education in the approach of
German classical philosophy. Later philosophical writers in German (
Gideon Spicker with ''Die Philosophie des Grafen von Shaftesbury'', 1872, and
Georg von Gizycki with ''Die Philosophie Shaftesbury's'', 1876) returned to Shaftesbury in books.
Legacy
At the beginning of the 18th century, Shaftesbury built a
folly
In architecture, a folly is a building constructed primarily for decoration, but suggesting through its appearance some other purpose, or of such extravagant appearance that it transcends the range of usual garden buildings.
Eighteenth-cent ...
on the Shaftesbury Estate, known as the Philosopher's Tower. It sits in a field, visible from the B3078 just south of
Cranborne.
In the Shaftesbury papers that went to the
Public Record Office
The Public Record Office (abbreviated as PRO, pronounced as three letters and referred to as ''the'' PRO), Chancery Lane in the City of London, was the guardian of the national archives of the United Kingdom from 1838 until 2003, when it was m ...
are several memoranda, letters, rough drafts, etc.
A portrait of the 3rd Earl is displayed in
Shaftesbury Town Hall.
Family
Shaftesbury married in 1709 Jane Ewer, the daughter of Thomas Ewer of
Bushey Hall,
Hertfordshire
Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and one of the home counties. It borders Bedfordshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the north-east, Essex to the east, Greater London to the ...
. On 9 February 1711, their only child Anthony, the future
fourth Earl was born.
His son succeeded him in his titles and republished ''Characteristicks'' in 1732. His great-grandson was the famous philanthropist,
Anthony Ashley Cooper, 7th Earl of Shaftesbury.
Publications of Shaftesbury
The following list of Shaftebury's principal publications has been sourced from ''The third Earl of Shaftesbury, 1671–1713'' by Robert Voitle.
*''The Danger of Mercenary Parliaments''. 1698. With the collaboration of John Toland.
*''Select Sermons of Dr. Whichcot
'. London, 1698. Preface by Shaftesbury.
*''An Inquiry Concerning Virtue, in Two Discourses''. London, 1699.
*''The Adept Ladys or The Angelick Sect. Being the Matters of fact of certain Adventures Spiritual, Philosophical, Political, and Gallant. In a Letter to a Brother.'' 1702.
*''Paradoxes of State, Relating to the Present Juncture of Affairs in England and the rest of Europe; Chiefly grounded on his Majesty's Princely, Pious, and most Gracious Speech''. London, 1702. With the collaboration of John Toland.
*''The Sociable Enthusiast. A Philosophical Adventure Written to Palemon''.
704?*''A Letter Concerning Enthusiasm, To My Lord *****.'' London, 1708.
*''The Moralists, a Philosophical Rhapsody. Being a recital of certain conversations upon natural and moral subjects''. London, 1709.
*''Sensus Communis: An Essay on the Freedom of Wit and Humour. In a letter to a friend''. London, 1709.
*''Soliloquy: or, Advice to an Author''. London, 1710.
*''AΣKHMATA'' ["Exercises"). Written from 1698 to 1712. Edited by Benjamin Rand in 1900 in ''The Life, Unpublished Letters, and Philosophical Regimen of Anthony, Earl of Shaftesbury''.
*''Characteristicks of Men, Manners, Opinions, Times.'' 3 vols. London, 1711. [Second corrected edition, 1714.]
*''Second Characters, or the Language of Forms''. Largely written in 1712.
*''A Letter Concerning the Art or Science of Design, written from Italy'' (''on the occasion of Some Designs in Painting), to my Lord *****''.
his appears in some copies of the 1714 edition of Characteristicks, and regularly from the 1732 edition on.*''A Notion of the Historical Draught or Tablature of the Judgment of Hercules''. 1713. [First printed in French in the November 1712 edition of the ''Journal des sçavans'' as "Raisonnement sur le tableau du jugement d'Hercule, selon l'histoire de Prodicus." It is in some copies of the 1714 edition of ''Characteristicks'' and most later ones.]
*''Plasticks, or the Original Progress and Power of Designatory Art''.
*''Several Letters Written by a Noble Lord to a Young Man at the University''. London, 1716.
*''Letters from the Right Honourable the late Earl of Shaftesbury, to Robert Molesworth, Esq. . . . with two letters written by the late Sir John Cropley''. Ed. with an introduction by John Toland. London, 1721.
*''Letters of the Earl of Shaftesbury''. Collected into one volume, London, 1750.
Notes
;Attribution
*
Further reading
* Cooper, Anthony Ashley, Earl of Shaftesbury, ''An Inquiry Concerning Virtue'', London, 1699. Facsimile ed., introd. Joseph Filonowicz, 1991, Scholars' Facsimiles & Reprints, .
* David Walford (editor). ''An Inquiry Concerning Virtue or Merit.'' A selection of material from Toland's 1699 edition with introduction.
* Robert B. Voitle, ''The third Earl of Shaftesbury, 1671–1713'', Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, c. 1984.
*
Edward Chaney (2000), ''George Berkeley's Grand Tours: The Immaterialist as Connoisseur of Art and Architecture'', in E. Chaney, The Evolution of the Grand Tour: Anglo-Italian Cultural Relations since the Renaissance, 2nd ed. London, Routledge
*
*
External links
*
*
Shaftesbury's ''Characteristicks'' in three partsContains the five treatises in Shaftesbury's ''Characteristicks'', slightly modified for easier reading''The Third Earl of Shaftesbury'' an article by John McAteer in
Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy
The ''Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy'' (''IEP'') is a scholarly online encyclopedia with around 900 articles about philosophy, philosophers, and related topics. The IEP publishes only peer review, peer-reviewed and blind-refereed original p ...
2011
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shaftesbury, Anthony Ashley Cooper, 3rd Earl Of
1671 births
1713 deaths
17th-century English philosophers
18th-century British essayists
18th-century English philosophers
Age of Enlightenment
British deists
English ethicists
English male essayists
Cambridge Platonists
3
English essayists
Ashley, Anthony Ashley-Cooper, Lord
Enlightenment philosophers
People educated at Winchester College
English philosophers of religion
Philosophers of social science
British philosophers of art