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Vol. 1 contains selections from the work of Shaftesbury, Hutcheson, Butler, Adam Smith, and Bentham. Vol. 2 contains works by Samuel Clarke, Balguy, Richard Price, Hobbes, Kames, Locke, Wollaston, and others.

Spencer continues his exploration of individualist moral philosophy in this book. He examines the nature of human conduct, different ways in which conduct might be judged, the conflict between egoism and altruism, and what he calls… more

The Essays is commonly considered Kames’s most important philosophical work. In the first part, he sets forth the principles and foundations of morality and justice, attacking Hume’s moral skepticism and addressing the controversial… more

A collection of Cicero’s writings which includes On Old Age, On Friendship, Officius, and Scipio’s Dream.

Mandeville is a witty satirist who used a poem to make the profound economic point that “private vices” (or self-interest) lead to “publick benefits” (such as orderly social structures like law, language, and markets).

Mill’s critique of Sir James Mackintosh’s “Dissertation on the Progress of Ethical Philosophy” was originally published in the seventh edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica. Mill comments on Mackintosh’s interpretation of Hobbes,… more

As Lecky stated, this work is an attempt to use the historical method to uderstand the merits of certain theological opionions from the beginning of the Roman Empire to the Middle Ages.

A seminal text of the Scottish Enlightenment which was written as a critical response to the work of Bernard Mandeville and as a defense of the ideas of Anthony Ashley Cooper, Lord Shaftesbury. It consists of two treatises exploring… more

A seminal text of the Scottish Enlightenment which was written as a critical response to the work of Bernard Mandeville and as a defense of the ideas of Anthony Ashley Cooper, Lord Shaftesbury. It consists of two treatises exploring… more

Spencer’s most developed version of his political philosophy which grounds his theory of the state on an idea of justice based on certain rights of physical integrity, movement, property, and exchange. He then expands this theory to… more

A work which contains 4 major pieces on metaphysics and ethics: the Groundwork of a Metaphysic of Ethics, an Inquiry into the a priori Operation of the Will (an extract from the Critique of Practical Reason), an Introdcution to the… more

In his ethical treatises Aristotle offers a defense of the idea of eudaimonism (human flourishing or happiness) which is achieved as a result of human choice in search of excellence and the good life.

A two volume work which Spencer considered to be his finest work. In volume I he covers the data of ethics, the inductions of ethics, and the ethics of individual life. In the second volume he covers the ethics of social life (or… more

The Principles of Moral and Christian Philosophy presents the first masterpiece of Scottish Common Sense philosophy. This two-volume treatise is important for its wide range of insights about the nature of the human mind, the… more

An early Victorian self-help book that combines Victorian morality with sound free market ideas into moral tales showing the benefits of thrift, hard work, education, perseverance, and a sound character. Smiles drew upon the personal… more

This edition contains an abridged biographical essay by Dugald Stewart, the Theory of Moral Sentiments, and seven “Essays on Philosophical Subjects.”