A treatise of the laws of nature / Richard Cumberland ; translated, with introduction and appendix, by John Maxwell (1727) ; edited and with a foreword by Jon Parkin.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Cumberland, Richard, 1631-1718.

Contributor:

Parkin, Jon (Jonathan Bruce), 1969-

Maxwell, John, 1705 or 1706-1784.

Series:

Natural Law Paper

Natural law and enlightenment classics

Standardized Title:

De legibus naturae disquisitio philosophica. English

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Ethics.

Christian ethics.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (1033 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Indianapolis, Ind. : Liberty Fund, c2005.

Language Note:

English

System Details:

Mode of access: World Wide Web.

Summary:

"A Treatise of the Laws of Nature, " originally titled "De Legibus Naturae, " first appeared in 1672 as a theoretical response to a range of issues that came together during the late 1660s. It conveyed a conviction that science might offer an effective means of demonstrating both the contents and the obligatory force of the law of nature. At a time when Hobbes's work appeared to suggest that the application of science undermined rather than supported the idea of obligatory natural law, Cumberland's "De Legibus Naturae" provided a scientific explanation of the natural necessity of altruism. Through his argument for a moral obligation to natural law, Cumberland made a critical intervention in the early debate over the role of natural jurisprudence at a moment when the natural law project was widely suspected of heterodoxy and incoherence. Liberty Fund publishes the first modern edition of "A Treatise of the Laws of Nature"," " based on John Maxwell's English translation of 1727. The edition includes Maxwell's extensive notes and appendixes. It also provides, for the first time in English, manuscript additions by Cumberland and material from Barbeyrac's 1744 French edition and John Towers's edition of 1750. Richard Cumberland (1632-1718) was bishop of Peterborough. Jon Parkin is a Lecturer in Politics at the University of York, United Kingdom. Knud Haakonssen is Professor of Intellectual History and Director of the Centre for Intellectual History at the University of Sussex, England.

Contents:

""Richard Cumberland, A Treatise of the Laws of Nature ""; ""Front Matter ""; ""Title Page ""; ""Copyright Details ""; ""Table of Contents, p. vii ""; ""Foreword, p. ix ""; ""A Note on this Edition, p. xx ""; ""A Treatise of the Laws of Nature ""; ""Dedication, p. 3 ""; ""The Translator's Preface, p. 4 ""; ""Names of Subscribers, p. 11 ""; ""Two Introductory Essays, p. 23 ""; ""Essay I. Concerning the City, or Kingdom, of God in the Rational World, and the Defects in Heathen Deism, p. 25 ""; ""Essay II. Concerning the Imperfectness of the Heathen Morality, p. 68 ""

""A Philosophical Inquiry Into the Laws of Nature """"The Contents, p. 237 ""; ""The Introduction, p. 247 ""; ""Chapter I. Of the Nature of Things, p. 289 ""; ""Chapter II. Of Human Nature, and Right Reason, p. 363 ""; ""Chapter III. Of Natural Good, p. 462 ""; ""Chapter IV. Of the practical Dictates of Reason, p. 481 ""; ""Chapter V. Of the Law of Nature, and its Obligation, p. 495 ""; ""Chapter VI. Of those Things which are contain'd in the general Law of Nature, p. 651 ""; ""Chapter VII. Of the Original of Dominion, and the MOral Virtues, p. 663 ""

""Chapter VIII. Of the Moral Virtues in particular, p. 684 """"Chapter IX. Corollaries, p. 708 ""; ""Editor's Note, p. 753 ""; ""Appendixes ""; ""Appendix I. A Summary of the Controversy Between Dr. Samuel Clark and an Anonymous Author, Concerning the Immateriality of Thinking Substance, p. 759""; ""Appendix II. A Treatise concerning the Obligation, Promulgation, and Observance of the Law of Nature, p. 795 ""; ""Appendix I. Richard Cumberland's Original Dedication to De Legibus Naturae, p. 947 ""; ""Appendix 2. Hezekiah Burton's ""Address to the Reader,"" p. 953 ""

""Selected Biography, p. 961 """"Index, p. 973 ""

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references (p. 961-971) and index.

ISBN:

1-61487-791-2

OCLC:

272405434