¿Quién fue Francis Hutcheson?
Francis Hutcheson (deceased 8 August 1746 Inchbelly, County Antrim) was an Ulster-Scots theologian and philosopher born in Saintfield, County Down. He was the father of Frances Hutcheson, FRSE and of James Hutcheson, Lord Aiton father-in-law of James Boswell. His grandfather was William Hutcheson.
According to the historian Jack C. Marler, in his book The Making of the Scottish Moralists, Francis Hutcheson was one of the three major influences on eighteenth century Scottish moral philosophy along with John Locke and David Hume.
Hutcheson’s family had been in Ulster since the seventeenth century. He himself was born in Northern Ireland, and raised in the north of Ireland, but was of Scottish descent.
Hutcheson was educated at the University of Glasgow, where he graduated with a Master of Arts in 1714. He was licensed to preach by the Church of Scotland in 1715, but he was not ordained until 1717. He was appointed as a minister at the parish of Kilmarnock in 1716, and then became a minister at the parish of Logic in Ayrshire in 1718. In 1719 he married his cousin, Jane Colhoun.
In 1726 Hutcheson was appointed Professor of Moral Philosophy at the University of Glasgow, a position he held for the rest of his life. He is best known for his work An Essay on the Nature and Conduct of the Passions and Affections, with Illustrations on the Moral Sense (1728), which was very influential in the Scottish Enlightenment.
Hutcheson’s ideas about aesthetics were also influential, and he is often credited with being the first person to formulate the idea of the «sublime» in aesthetic terms. He also held controversial positions on the nature of free will and predestination, which led to some of his works being banned by the Church of Scotland.
Despite these controversies, Hutcheson was a highly respected figure within the Scottish Enlightenment, and counted among his friends and admirers such figures as David Hume, Adam Smith, and Lord Kames. He also corresponded with Voltaire and other European intellectuals of his day.
Hutcheson died in 1746, and was buried in Glasgow Cathedral. His son, Frances, carried on his work, and was also a respected philosopher in his own right..
Escrito por: Gonzalo Jiménez
Licenciado en Filosofía en la Universidad de Granada (UGR), con Máster en Filosofía Contemporánea en la Universidad Complutense de Madrid (UCM)
Desde 2015, se ha desempeñado como docente universitario y como colaborador en diversas publicaciones Académicas, con artículos y ensayos. Es aficionado a la lectura de textos antiguos y le gustan las películas y los gatos.
