Anthony Ashley-Cooper, 3rd Earl of Shaftesbury
An English earl whose philosophical writings championed innate human goodness and taste, shaping the Enlightenment's belief in a moral sense.
1671–1713 (age 42)·English politician, philosopher and writer·Birthday: February 26
Biography
Anthony Ashley-Cooper, the 3rd Earl of Shaftesbury, was a philosopher who moved in a world of politics but thought in terms of harmony and virtue. Grandson of the notorious politician of the same name, he was tutored by John Locke, though he would radically depart from his teacher's view of the mind as a blank slate. Plagued by ill health, he retreated from public life, publishing his essays collectively as 'Characteristics of Men, Manners, Opinions, Times'. In them, he argued that beauty, virtue, and truth are intertwined, and that humans possess an innate 'moral sense' or natural benevolence. His ideas, emphasizing politeness and a balanced character, directly influenced the Scottish Enlightenment thinkers like Francis Hutcheson and provided a crucial counterpoint to the cynical self-interest of Hobbes.
#1 When Anthony Was Born
The biggest hits of 1671
Anthony's Life & Times
The world at every milestone
1671Born
1676Started school
1684Became a teenager
1687Could drive
1689Could vote
1692Turned 21
1701Turned 30
1711Turned 40
1713Died at 42
Key Achievements
- Published the influential philosophical collection 'Characteristics of Men, Manners, Opinions, Times' (1711).
- Developed the concept of the 'moral sense', a theory that humans have an innate faculty for perceiving virtue.
- His writings on aesthetics linked moral goodness with a sense of beauty and harmony.
- As a Whig politician, he served as a Member of Parliament for Poole before inheriting his earldom.
Did You Know?
Due to poor health, he spent much of his later life in Italy and the Netherlands.
He was a staunch opponent of the philosophical materialism of Thomas Hobbes.
His grandfather, the 1st Earl, was the founder of the Whig party and a key figure in the Exclusion Crisis.
His philosophical work was written in a polished, literary style, often as letters or soliloquies.
“To be able to read and not to think is an empty and vain thing; to think and not to read is dangerous.”
