Hutcheson, Francis (1694-1746), philosopher; born near Saintfield, Co. Down, he was educated at Glasgow University, where he was elected to the Chair of Moral Philosophy. His major works include: Inquiry into the Original of our Ideas of Beauty and Virtue (1725), An Essay on the Passions with Illustrations on the Moral Sense (1728), and A Short Introduction to Moral Philosophy (1747). Hutcheson's moral philosophy greatly influenced contemporaries such as his own pupil Adam Smith, while David Hume sent A Treatise of Human Nature to him for comment. His work formed an important link between Locke and Scottish rationalist thought. Much of his ethical thinking is directed against self-interest as the overriding motive, and he is credited with laying the foundation of classical utilitarianism with the doctrine of ‘the greatest happiness for the greatest numbers’. At Glasgow, Hutcheson was part of the ‘New Light’ theological group, with strong links with the non-subscribing Presbyterian movement represented in Ireland by John Abernethy, Robert Molesworth, and others. His ideas had considerable influence on the liberal tradition in Ulster and on his friend Thomas Drennan, father of William Drennan, the United Irishman.

The Concise Oxford Companion to Irish Literature. Copyright © 1996, 2000, 2003 by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved.