This new edition of Characteristicks presents the complete 1732 text of thisclassic work of philosophy and political theory. Widely regarded as the firstexponen... » 

This new edition of Characteristicks presents the complete 1732 text of thisclassic work of philosophy and political theory. Widely regarded as the firstexponent of the view that ethics derives not from reason alone but fromsentiment Shaftesbury criticizes not only Locke but especially Hobbes forthe dim view that the state of nature is a war of all against all. To thecontrary Shaftesbury argued that human nature responds most fully torepresentations of the good the true and the beautiful and that human beingsnaturally desire society. In all of these reflections he provides a largescope for the exercise of individual liberty and responsibility. The grandsonof a founder and leader of the English Whigs and tutored by John LockeAnthony Ashley Cooper was the Third Earl of Shaftesbury 16711713 andCharacteristicks is regarded as one of the most intellectually influentialworks in English of the eighteenth century. «