1671 - 1713

Nationality:
English

Historical Period:
The 18th Century

Groups

• 18th Century Commonwealthmen

Anthony Ashley Cooper, the Third Earl of Shaftesbury (1671-1713) was the grandson of a founder and leader of the English Whigs, and was tutored by John Locke. Shaftesbury rote one of the most intellectually influential works in English of the eighteenth century, the Characteristicks. Widely regarded as the first exponent of the view that ethics derives from reason and “sentiment,” Shaftesbury criticizes not only Locke but, especially, Hobbes for the dim view that “the state of nature” is “a war of all against all.” To the contrary, Shaftesbury argued that human nature responds most fully to representations of the good, the true, and the beautiful, and that human beings naturally desire society.

See a complete list of the illustrations Shaftesbury created for the book (including large higher resolution images):

• in the Forum: Images of Liberty and Power

Titles:

• Author: British Moralists vol. 1
• Author: Characteristicks of Men, Manners, Opinions, Times, 3 vols.
• Author: Characteristicks of Men, Manners, Opinions, Times, vol. 1
• Author: Characteristicks of Men, Manners, Opinions, Times, vol. 2
• Author: Characteristicks of Men, Manners, Opinions, Times, vol. 3

Quotations:

• The Earl of Shaftesbury states that civility and politeness is a consequence of liberty by which "we polish one another, and rub off our Corners and rough Sides" (1709)
• The Earl of Shaftesbury relates the story of an unscrupulous glazier who gives the rowdy town youths a football so they will smash windows in the street and thus drum up business (1737)
• Shaftesbury on the need for liberty to promote the liberal arts (1712)
• Shaftesbury opposes the nonresisting test bill before the House of Lords as a step towards "absolute and arbitrary" government (1675)
• The Earl of Shaftesbury on the value of good conversations for questioning everything (1709)

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