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• Introduction
• References and Further Reading
• Note On the Text
• Acknowledgments
• An Inquiry Into the Original of Our Ideas of Beauty and Virtue ; In Two Treatises.
• 2 to His Excellency, John, Lord Carteret, Ii Lord Lieutenant of Ireland.
• The Preface
• Treatise I: Viz. an Inquiry Concerning Beauty, Order, &c.[1]
• Section I: Concerning Some Powers of Perception, Distinct From What Is Generally Understood By Sensation.
• Section II: Of Original Or Absolute Beauty.
• Section III: Of the Beauty of Theorems.
• Section IV: Of Relative Or Comparative Beauty.
• Section V: Concerning Our Reasonings About Design and Wisdom In the Cause, From the Beauty Or Regularity of Effects.
• Section VI: Of the Universality of the Sense of Beauty Among Men.
• Section VII: Of the Power of Custom, Education, and Example, As to Our Internal Senses.
• Section VIII: Of the Importance of the Internal Senses In Life, and the Final Causes of Them.
• ‖ 1 Treatise II: Viz. an Inquiry Concerning the Original of Our Ideas of Virtue Or Moral Good.
• Introduction
• Section I: Of the Moral Sense By Which We Perceive Virtue and Vice, and Approve Or Disapprove Them In Others.
• Section II: Concerning the Immediate Motive to Virtuous Actions.
• Section III: The Sense of Virtue, and the Various Opinions About It, Reducible to One General Foundation. the Manner of Computing the Morality of Actions.
• Section IV: All Mankind Agree In This General Foundation of Their Approbation of Moral Actions. the Grounds of the Different Opinions About Morals.
• Section V: A Further Confirmation That We Have Practical Dispositions to Virtue Implanted In Our Nature; With a Further Explication ‖ 1 of Our Instinct to Benevolence In Its Various Degrees‖; With the Additional Motives of Interest, Viz. Honour, Shame an
• Section VI: Concerning the Importance of This Moral Sense to the Present Happiness of Mankind, and Its Influence On Human Affairs.
• Section VII: A Deduction of Some Complex Moral Ideas, Viz. of Obligation, and Right, Perfect, Imperfect, and External, Alienable, and Unalienable, From This Moral Sense.

NOTE ON THE TEXT

The Editions

During Hutcheson’s lifetime, four different editions of the Inquiry into the Original of Beauty and Virtue were published. These editions are chronologically referred to as A, B, C, and D. The texts of B, C, and D not only present corrections but also introduce substantial alterations and additions by the author. These changes can be helpful in understanding Hutcheson’s ideas, and accordingly the present edition presents the variants in a text critical apparatus. It is based on the second edition (B) from 1726, since this is the first corrected text.

The first edition (A) was published in London in 1725, “Printed by J. Darby in Bartholomew Close, for Will. and John Smith on the Blind Key in Dublin; and sold by W. and J. Innys at the West End of St. Paul’s Churchyard, J. Osborn and T. Longman in Pater-Noster-Row, and S. Chandler in the Poultry.” This edition was reprinted as a facsimile in vol. 1 of Collected Works of Francis Hutcheson, edited by Bernard Fabian, Hildesheim 1969, 1971, 7 vols.

The second edition (B), “corrected and enlarg’d,” was published in London in 1726, “Printed for J. Darby, A. Bettesworth, F. Fayram, J. Pemberton, C. Rivington, J. Hooke, F. Clay, J. Batley, and E. Symon.” There was a facsimile reprint: New York, Garland Publishing, 1971.

The third edition (C) was published in London in 1729, “Printed for J. and J. Knapton, J. Darby, A. Bettesworth, F. Fayram, J. Pemberton, J. Osborne and T. Longman, C. Rivington, F. Clay, J. Batley, and A. Ward.”

Of the fourth edition three different issues were published in 1738 (D1, D2, D3). D1 is a reprint of the 1729 edition (C). D2 and D3 contain changes that were carried out when the printing was already in progress, a practice not uncommon in the eighteenth century. These two issues have identical title pages stating that they were published in London and “Printed for D. Midwinter, A. Bettesworth, and C. Hitch, J. and J. Pemberton, R. Ware, C. Rivington, F. Clay, A. Ward, J. and P. Knapton, T. Longman, R. Hett, and J. Wood.” There was a facsimile reprint of D2: Farnborough, Hants., England, 1969. Part of the text of D2 (“Treatise I, Concerning Beauty, Order, Harmony, Design”) was edited by Peter Kivy, The Hague, 1973.

If not otherwise indicated, all notes referring to “D” state variants from D2. The notes refer to the alterations in the text as well as to an appended list of corrigenda titled “Additions and Corrections &c.” Here Hutcheson remarks:

Since the list of corrigenda is not paginated, the pages here are counted consecutively, starting from the last numbered page of the text itself. Textual notes referring to these corrigenda give the page number in square brackets, for example, D [Corrigenda, p. 311]: or Curiosity.

D3 carries the same “Additions and Corrections &c.” as D2 and adds a few “Directions to the Bookbinder” (obviously directions that had not been carried out properly in D2): “In the Preface, Cancel from p. 15 to the End. In the Work, Cancel from p. 9 to 17. From 29 to 39. From 57 to 59. From 173 to 179. From 185 to 203. From 217 to 223. From 253 to 255. From 287 to 293.” (In D3 pages 179 and 180 are printed twice.)

Editorial Decisions

Editorial intervention in the main text has been minimal. The spelling of Hutcheson’s text has been preserved, as has his punctuation, however much it varies from present conventions. The typography has been standardized and ignores Hutcheson’s, or his printers’, liberal use of italics and small capitals. There are no other silent editorial deletions or additions. The page breaks of the second edition (B) of the Inquiry are indicated by square brackets [ ]; for example, the text of page 215 begins after [215].

The editor’s explanatory notes are marked by lowercase Roman numerals, textual notes by Arabic numerals. The textual notes state the differences between the text of B and the other editions, except for variations in spelling and punctuation. In all cases, the editions are cited in the order given above (A, B, C, D, D3), followed by the page and the text. For example, C (p. 2), D (p. 2): great means that in edition C, on page 2, and in edition D, on page 2, a word (or phrase) was changed to “great.” The corrections in the Errata list of B are likewise noted (including punctuation).

Where necessary for clarity, pairs of double vertical bars indicate the beginning and the end of a variant. For example, ‖⁴we enjoy the Delights of Virtue ‖ means that beginning with ‖⁴ and ending with ‖ the words “we enjoy the Delights of Virtue” were altered as per footnote 4. In some cases there are changes within changes. Here the Arabic numerals for footnotes are supplemented with letters to indicate the beginning and end of the respective variants. For example, ‖^3aamiable or disagreeable Ideas of Actions, when they ‖^4bshall  ^b‖ occur to our Observation ^a‖ means that one variant starts after ‖^3a and ends at ^a‖, and that another variant concerns only the word “shall” between ‖^4b and ^b‖. Square brackets not indicating page breaks mark editorial notes or insertions.