Joseph Butler - Wikipedia Joseph Butler From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to navigation Jump to search For other people named Joseph Butler, see Joseph Butler (disambiguation). The Right Reverend Joseph Butler Bishop of Durham Diocese Durham In office 1750–1752 Predecessor Edward Chandler Successor Richard Trevor Other posts Bishop of Bristol (1738–1750) Dean of St Paul's (1740–1750) Orders Ordination 26 October 1718 (deacon) 21 December 1718 (priest) by William Talbot Consecration 3 December 1738 Personal details Born (1692-05-18)18 May 1692 Wantage, Berkshire, England Died 16 June 1752(1752-06-16) (aged 60) Bath, Somerset, Great Britain Buried 20 June 1752,[1] Bristol Cathedral[2] Nationality English (later British) Denomination Presbyterian Anglican (after 1714) Residence Rosewell House, Kingsmead Square, Bath (at death) Parents Thomas Butler[1] Profession Theologian, apologist, philosopher Sainthood Feast day 16 June (commemoration) Philosophy career Education Tewkesbury Academy Oriel College, Oxford Era 18th-century philosophy Region Western philosophy School Empiricism, Christian philosophy Main interests Theology Notable ideas Criticism of deism Influences Plato, Thomas Hobbes, John Locke, Francis Hutcheson, Samuel Clarke Influenced Adam Smith, David Hume, Thomas Reid, Edmund Burke, William Paley, Jeremy Bentham, David Seabury, C. S. Lewis, John Warwick Montgomery Joseph Butler (18 May 1692 – 16 June 1752) was an English Anglican bishop, theologian, apologist, and philosopher. He was born in Wantage in the English county of Berkshire (now Oxfordshire). He is known, among other things, for his critique of Deism, Thomas Hobbes's egoism, and John Locke's theory of personal identity.[3] Butler influenced many philosophers and religious thinkers, including David Hume, Thomas Reid, Adam Smith,[4] Henry Sidgwick,[5] John Henry Newman,[6] and C. D. Broad,[7] and is widely considered "as one of the preeminent English moralists."[8] He also played an important, though under appreciated, role in the development of eighteenth-century economic discourse, greatly influencing the Dean of Gloucester and political economist Josiah Tucker.[9] Contents 1 Biography 1.1 Early life and education 1.2 Church career 1.3 Death and legacy 2 Philosophy 2.1 Attack on deism 2.2 Ethics and moral psychology 2.3 Criticism of Locke's theory of personal identity 3 Veneration 4 Styles and titles 5 Publications 6 See also 7 Notes 8 References 9 Further reading 10 External links Biography[edit] Arms of Joseph Butler, Bishop of Durham: Argent, three covered cups in bend between two bendlets engrailed sable[10] Early life and education[edit] The son of a Presbyterian linen-draper, he was destined for the ministry of that church and, along with future archbishop Thomas Secker, entered Samuel Jones's dissenting academy at Gloucester (later Tewkesbury) for that purpose. While there, he entered into a secret correspondence with the distinguished Anglican theologian and philosopher Samuel Clarke. In 1714, Butler decided to enter the Church of England, and went to Oriel College, Oxford. He received his Bachelor of Arts in 1718 and later proceeded Doctor of Civil Law on 8 December 1733.[1] Church career[edit] Butler was ordained a deacon on 26 October 1718 by William Talbot, Bishop of Salisbury, in his Bishop's Palace, Salisbury, his palace chapel[11] and a priest on 21 December 1718 by Talbot at St James's Church, Piccadilly.[1] After holding various other high positions, he became rector of the rich living of Stanhope, County Durham. In 1736 he was made the head chaplain of George II's wife Caroline, on the advice of Lancelot Blackburne. He was nominated Bishop of Bristol on 19 October 1738 and consecrated a bishop on 3 December 1738 at Lambeth Palace chapel. Remaining Bishop of Bristol, Butler was installed Dean of St Paul's on 24 May 1740; he kept that office until his translation to Durham.[1] He is said (apocryphally) to have declined an offer to become the archbishop of Canterbury in 1747 but was appointed Clerk of the Closet to the king in 1746 (until 1752). He was translated to Durham by the confirmation of his election to that See in October 1750; he was then enthroned by proxy on 9 November 1750.[1] He is buried in Bristol Cathedral. Death and legacy[edit] Butler died in 1752 at Rosewell House, Kingsmead Square in Bath, Somerset.[12] His admirers praise him as an excellent man, and a diligent and conscientious churchman. Though indifferent to general literature, he had some taste in the fine arts, especially architecture. In the calendars of the Anglican communion his feast day is 16 June. He has his own collection of manuscripts (e.g. Lectionary 189). Philosophy[edit] Memorial to Bishop Joseph Butler, Durham Cathedral Attack on deism[edit] During his lifetime and for many years after his death, Butler was most famous for his Analogy of Religion, Natural and Revealed (1736), which, according to historian Will Durant, "remained for a century the chief buttress of Christian argument against unbelief."[13] English deists such as John Toland and Matthew Tindal had argued that nature provides clear evidence of an intelligent designer and artificer, but they rejected orthodox Christianity because of the incredibility of miracles and the cruelties and contradictions contained in the Bible. Butler's Analogy was one of many book-length replies to the deists, and it was long widely believed to be the most effective. Butler argued that nature itself was full of mysteries and cruelties, and thus shared the same alleged defects as the Bible. Arguing on empiricist grounds that all knowledge of nature and human conduct is merely probable, Butler then appealed to a series of patterns ("analogies") observable in nature and human affairs, which, in his judgment, make the chief teachings of Christianity likely true. Butler's jiu-jitsu-like argumentative strategy was unusual and risky. Arguing that "because nature is a mess of riddles, we cannot expect revelation to be any clearer"[14] obviously invited the retort that then both deism and Christianity were irrational. Today, Butler's Analogy is "now largely of historical interest,"[15] but his claim that probability is the guide to life would be endorsed by many contemporary philosophers. Ethics and moral psychology[edit] This article relies too much on references to primary sources. Please improve this by adding secondary or tertiary sources. (July 2019) (Learn how and when to remove this template message) A Butler scholar, Stephen Darwall, wrote: "Probably no figure had a greater impact on nineteenth-century British moral philosophy than Butler."[16] Butler's chief target in the Sermons was Thomas Hobbes and the egoistic view of human nature he had defended in Leviathan (1651). Hobbes was a materialist who believed that science reveals a world in which all events are causally determined and in which all human choices flow unavoidably from whatever desire is most powerful in a person at a given time. Hobbes saw human beings as being violent, self-seeking, and power-hungry. On such a view, there was no place for genuine altruism or benevolence or any conception of morality as traditionally conceived.[17] In the Sermons, Butler argues that human motivation is less selfish and more complex than Hobbes claimed. Butler maintains that the human mind is an organized hierarchy of a number of different impulses and principles, many of which are not fundamentally selfish. On the ground floor, so to speak, is a wide variety of particular emotions, appetites, and affections, such as hunger, anger, fear, and sympathy. They, in properly organized minds, are under the control of two superior principles: self-love (a desire to maximize one's own long-term happiness) and benevolence (a desire to promote the general happiness). The more general impulses are in turn subject to the highest practical authority in the human mind: moral conscience. Conscience, Butler claims, is an inborn sense of right and wrong, an inner light and monitor, received from God.[18] Conscience tells one to promote both the general happiness and personal happiness. Experience informs that the two aims largely coincide in the present life. For many reasons, Butler argues, unethical and self-centered people who care nothing for the public good are usually not very happy. There are, however, rare cases where the wicked seem (for a time) to prosper. A perfect harmony of virtue and self-interest, Butler claimed, is guaranteed only by a just God, who, in the afterlife, rewards and punishes people as they deserve.[19] Criticism of Locke's theory of personal identity[edit] This article relies too much on references to primary sources. Please improve this by adding secondary or tertiary sources. (July 2019) (Learn how and when to remove this template message) In Appendix 1 of the Analogy, Butler offers a famous criticism of John Locke's influential theory of "personal identity", an explanation of what makes someone the "same person" from one time to the next, despite all the physical and psychological changes experienced over that period. Locke claimed that personal identity is not from having the same body or the same soul but from having the same consciousness and memory. According to Locke, memory is the "glue" that ties the various stages of our life together and constitutes sameness of person. More precisely, Locke claims, Person A is the same person as Person B just in case A and B share at least some of the same memories. Butler pointed out that the way "real" memories can be distinguished from false ones is that it was people who had the experiences that are truly remembered. Thus, Butler claimed, memory presupposes personal identity and so cannot constitute it.[20] Veneration[edit] Butler is honoured together with George Berkeley with a feast day on the liturgical calendar of the Episcopal Church (USA) on 16 June. Styles and titles[edit] 1692–1718: Joseph Butler Esq. 1718–1733: The Reverend Joseph Butler 1733–1738: The Reverend Doctor Joseph Butler 1738–1752: The Right Reverend Doctor Joseph Butler Publications[edit] Several letters to the Reverend Dr. Clarke, 1716, 1719, 1725 – reprinted in Volume 1 of Gladstone's edition of Butler's works Fifteen sermons preached at the Rolls Chapel, 1726, 1729, 1736, 1749, 1759, 1765, 1769, 1774, 1792 The Analogy of Religion, Natural and Revealed, to the Constitution and Course of Nature, 1736, 1740, 1750, 1754, 1764, 1765, 1771, 1775, 1785, 1788, 1791, 1793, 1796, 1798 A sermon preached before the Incorporated Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts, 1739 A sermon preached before the Right Honourable the Lord-Mayor, 1740 A sermon preached before the House of Lords, 1741, 1747 A sermon preached in the parish-church of Christ-Church, London, 1745 A sermon, preached before His Grace Charles Duke of Richmond, Lenox, and Aubigny, president, 1748, 1751 Six sermons preached upon publick occasions, 1749 A catalogue of the libraries [...], 1753 A charge delivered to the clergy at the primary visitation of the diocese of Durham, 1751, 1786 – reprinted in Volume 2 of Gladstone's edition of Butler's works See also[edit] Saints portal Altruism Christian philosophy Deism Notes[edit] ^ a b c d e f "Butler, Joseph". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/4198. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.) ^ 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica ^ "Joseph Butler (1692–1752)". ^ White (2006), §8. ^ J. B. Schneewind, Sidgwick's Ethics and Victorian Moral Philosophy. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1978, p. 47. ^ John Henry Cardinal Newman, Apologia Pro Vita Sua. New York: Modern Library, 1950, p. 41. Originally published in 1946. ^ C. D. Broad, Five Types of Ethical Theory. Paterson, NJ: Littlefield, Adams, and Co., 1959, p. 83. Originally published in 1930. ^ James C. Livingston, Modern Christian Thought. New York: Macmillan, 1971, p. 47. ^ Peter Xavier Price, 'LIBERTY, POVERTY AND CHARITY IN THE POLITICAL ECONOMY OF JOSIAH TUCKER AND JOSEPH BUTLER', Modern Intellectual History (2017), 1–30. doi:10.1017/S1479244317000518. [1] ^ As seen on his monument in Durham Cathedral (same arms as Butler, Earl of Lanesborough (Burke, Bernard, The General Armory of England, 1884, p.153)) ^ Ordination Record: Butler, Joseph in "CCEd, the Clergy of the Church of England database" (Accessed online, 5 September 2014) ^ "Rosewell House". Images of England. English Heritage. Archived from the original on 18 October 2012. Retrieved 2 September 2009. ^ Will and Ariel Durant, The Age of Voltaire. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1965, p. 125. ^ Livingston, Modern Christian Thought, p. 51. ^ Stephen L. Darwall, "Introduction" to Joseph Butler, Five Sermons. Indianapolis: Hackett, 1983, p. 1. ^ Darwall, "Introduction<" p. 3. ^ Darwall, "Introduction," p. 1. ^ Butler, Five Sermons, p. 37. ^ Butler, Five Sermons, p. 45. ^ Joseph Butler, The Analogy of Religion. Cincinnati: Jennings and Graham, 1847. p. 324. References[edit]  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain:  Cousin, John William (1910). A Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature. London: J. M. Dent & Sons – via Wikisource. William Lucas Collins, Butler, Philosophical Classics for English Readers, Blackwood, 1881. "Butler, Joseph." Encyclopædia Britannica, 1911 edition. White, David E. "Joseph Butler," Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, J. Fieser & B. Dowden (eds.), 2006. Garrett, Aaron Joseph Butler's Moral Philosophy, Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy 2012. Further reading[edit] Austin Duncan-Jones Butler's Moral Philosophy Penguin 1952. Ramm, Bernard, "Joseph Butler," Varieties of Christian Apologetics: An Introduction to the Christian Philosophy of Religion, Baker Book House, Grand Rapids, 1962 pp. 107–124. Rurak, James, "Butler's Analogy: A Still Interesting Synthesis of Reason and Revelation," Anglican Theological Review 62 (October), 1980 pp. 365–381. Brown, Colin, Miracles and the Critical Mind, Paternoster, Exeter UK/William B. Eerdmans, Grand Rapids, 1984. Craig, William Lane, The Historical Argument for the Resurrection of Jesus During the Deist Controversy, Texts and Studies in Religion, Volume 23. Edwin Mellen Press, Lewiston, New York & Queenston, Ontario, 1985. Penelhum, Terence, Butler, New York: Routledge, 1985. External links[edit] Wikisource has the text of the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica article Butler, Joseph. Works written by or about Joseph Butler at Wikisource Media related to Joseph Butler at Wikimedia Commons Contains Correspondence with Clarke, three episodes from Analogy of Religion, and five of the Fifteen Sermons, all lightly edited for easier reading "Joseph Butler". Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Works by Joseph Butler at Project Gutenberg Works by Joseph Butler at LibriVox (public domain audiobooks) Works by or about Joseph Butler at Internet Archive Church of England titles Preceded by Thomas Gooch Bishop of Bristol 1738–1750 Succeeded by John Conybeare Preceded by Francis Hare, Bishop of Chichester Dean of St Paul's 1740–1750 Succeeded by Thomas Secker, Bishop of Oxford Preceded by Edward Chandler Bishop of Durham 1750–1752 Succeeded by Richard Trevor v t e Bishops of Bristol For the sole Bishop suffragan of Bristol, see Henry Holbeach Bristol (1542) Paul Bush John Holyman Richard Cheyney John Bullingham Richard Fletcher John Thornborough Nicholas Felton Rowland Searchfield Robert Wright George Coke Robert Skinner Thomas Westfield Thomas Howell Gilbert Ironside (Er) Guy Carleton William Gulston John Lake Gilbert Ironside (Yr) John Hall John Robinson George Smalridge Hugh Boulter William Bradshaw Charles Cecil Thomas Secker Thomas Gooch Joseph Butler John Conybeare John Hume Philip Yonge Thomas Newton Lewis Bagot Christopher Wilson Spencer Madan Reginald Courtenay Folliott Cornewall George Pelham John Luxmoore William Lort Mansel John Kaye Robert Gray Joseph Allen Gloucester and Bristol James Henry Monk Charles Baring William Thomson Charles Ellicott Bristol (1897) George Forrest Browne George Nickson Clifford Woodward Frederick Cockin Oliver Tomkins John Tinsley Barry Rogerson Mike Hill Lee Rayfield (acting) Vivienne Faull v t e St Paul's Cathedral Deans High Medieval Wulman Ranulf Flambard (disputed) William de Mareni Ralph de Langford Hugh de Mareni Ralph de Diceto Alard de Burnham Gervase de Howbridge Robert de Watford Martin de Pattishall Geoffrey de Lucy William of Sainte-Mère-Église Henry de Cornhill Walter de Saleron Robert de Barton Peter de Newport Richard Talbot John de Ebulo Geoffrey de Fering John Chishull Hervey de Boreham Thomas Ingoldsthorpe Roger de La Legh William de Montfort Ralph Baldock Late Medieval Arnald Frangerius de Cantilupo John Sandale Richard Newport Roger Northburgh Vitalis de Testa John de Everdon Gilbert de Bruera Richard de Kilvington Walter de Alderbury Thomas Trilleck John de Appleby Thomas de Eure Thomas Stowe Thomas More Reginald Kentwood Thomas Lisieux Lawrence Booth William Say Roger Radclyffe Thomas Wynterbourne William Worsley Early modern Robert Sherborne John Colet Richard Pace Richard Sampson John Incent William May John Feckenham Henry Cole William May (again) Alexander Nowell John Overall Valentine Cary John Donne Thomas Winniffe Richard Steward Matthew Nicholas John Barwick William Sancroft Edward Stillingfleet John Tillotson William Sherlock Henry Godolphin Francis Hare Joseph Butler Thomas Secker John Hume Frederick Cornwallis Thomas Newton Thomas Thurlow Late modern George Pretyman Tomline William Van Mildert Charles Sumner Edward Copleston Henry Hart Milman Henry Longueville Mansel Richard William Church Robert Gregory William Inge Walter Matthews Martin Sullivan Alan Webster Eric Evans John Moses Graeme Knowles Michael Colclough (acting) David Ison Clergy (current) Paula Gooder (Canon Chancellor) James Milne (Canon Precentor) Tricia Hillas (Canon Pastor) Jonathan Brewster (Canon Treasurer) Rosemary Morton (Minor Canon Succentor) Helen O'Sullivan (Priest Vicar Chaplain) Rachel Weir (Minor Canon) Burials Christopher Wren Minor Canons Old St Paul's Cathedral Paul's walk St Paul's Cross St. Paul's Churchyard ‎ St Paul's Cathedral School St Paul's Survives Surveyor of the Fabric of St Paul's Cathedral Category Commons v t e Bishops and Prince-Bishops of Durham Bishops of Lindisfarne Aidan Finan Colmán Tuda United to York Eata Cuthbert Eadberht Eadfrith Æthelwold Cynewulf Higbald Egbert Heathwred Ecgred Eanbert Eardulf Bishops of Chester-le-Street Eardulf Cutheard Tilred Wigred Uchtred Sexhelm Aldred Ælfsige Aldhun High Medieval Bishops of Durham Aldhun Edmund Eadred Æthelric Æthelwine High Medieval Prince-Bishops William Walcher William de St-Calais Ranulf Flambard Geoffrey Rufus William Cumin William of St. Barbara Hugh de Puiset Philip of Poitou Richard Poore John de Gray Morgan Richard Marsh William Scot Richard Poore Thomas de Melsonby Nicholas Farnham Walter of Kirkham Robert Stitchill Robert of Holy Island Antony Bek Late Medieval Prince-Bishops Richard Kellaw Lewis de Beaumont Richard de Bury Thomas Hatfield John Fordham Walter Skirlaw Thomas Langley Robert Neville Lawrence Booth William Dudley John Sherwood Richard Foxe Early modern Prince-Bishops William Senhouse Christopher Bainbridge Thomas Ruthall Thomas Wolsey Cuthbert Tunstall James Pilkington Richard Barnes Matthew Hutton Tobias Matthew William James Richard Neile George Montaigne John Howson Thomas Morton John Cosin Nathaniel Crew William Talbot Edward Chandler Joseph Butler Richard Trevor John Egerton Thomas Thurlow Shute Barrington William Van Mildert Late modern Bishops Edward Maltby Charles Longley Henry Montagu Villiers Charles Baring J. B. Lightfoot Brooke Foss Westcott Handley Moule Hensley Henson Alwyn Williams Michael Ramsey Maurice Harland Ian Ramsey John Habgood David Jenkins Michael Turnbull N. T. Wright Justin Welby Paul Butler v t e Clerks of the Closet 17th century Richard Neile William Juxon Matthew Wren Richard Steward Gilbert Sheldon John Earle John Dolben Walter Blandford Nathaniel Crew Thomas Sprat Sir Edward Petre John Tillotson Thomas Burnet John Montagu 18th century William Graham Samuel Pratt Charles Trimnell Richard Willis Henry Egerton Joseph Butler John Gilbert John Thomas William Buller Richard Hurd 19th century William Jackson George Pelham Robert James Carr Edward Stanley John Graham Henry Philpott Randall Davidson Since 1900 William Boyd Carpenter Hubert Burge Thomas Strong Cyril Garbett Percy Herbert Roger Wilson Gordon Fallows John Bickersteth John Waine Jonathan Bailey Christopher Hill James Newcome Authority control BNE: XX844761 BNF: cb124440854 (data) GND: 118518119 ISNI: 0000 0000 8076 1723 LCCN: n50032599 NKC: ola2002158075 NLA: 35142266 NLI: 000407847 NTA: 070362726 PLWABN: 9810692273805606 SNAC: w6bp0n6c SUDOC: 027377601 Trove: 840446 VcBA: 495/181593 VIAF: 5025091 WorldCat Identities: lccn-n50032599 Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Joseph_Butler&oldid=998375237" Categories: 1692 births 1752 deaths People from Wantage Alumni of Oriel College, Oxford 18th-century Anglican bishops 18th-century Anglican theologians 18th-century English non-fiction writers 18th-century male writers 18th-century philosophers Anglican philosophers English Anglican theologians Anglican saints Bishops of Bristol Bishops of Durham Christian apologists Deans of St Paul's Clerks of the Closet Early Modern philosophers English philosophers English sermon writers Empiricists English male non-fiction writers Critics of deism Hidden categories: Wikipedia articles incorporating a citation from the ODNB Use dmy dates from December 2019 Pages using infobox philosopher with embed equal yes Articles with hCards Articles lacking reliable references from July 2019 All articles lacking reliable references Wikipedia articles incorporating text from A Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature Commons category link from Wikidata Articles with Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy links Articles with Project Gutenberg links Articles with LibriVox links Articles with Internet Archive links Wikipedia articles with BNE identifiers Wikipedia articles with BNF identifiers Wikipedia articles with GND identifiers Wikipedia articles with ISNI identifiers Wikipedia articles with LCCN identifiers Wikipedia articles with NKC identifiers Wikipedia articles with NLA identifiers Wikipedia articles with NLI identifiers Wikipedia articles with NTA identifiers Wikipedia articles with PLWABN identifiers Wikipedia articles with SNAC-ID identifiers Wikipedia articles with SUDOC identifiers Wikipedia articles with Trove identifiers Wikipedia articles with VcBA identifiers Wikipedia articles with VIAF identifiers Wikipedia articles with WORLDCATID identifiers Navigation menu Personal tools Not logged in Talk Contributions Create account Log in Namespaces Article Talk Variants Views Read Edit View history More Search Navigation Main page Contents Current events Random article About Wikipedia Contact us Donate Contribute Help Learn to edit Community portal Recent changes Upload file Tools What links here Related changes Upload file Special pages Permanent link Page information Cite this page Wikidata item Print/export Download as PDF Printable version In other projects Wikimedia Commons Wikisource Languages Afrikaans العربية Aragonés Català Dansk Deutsch Eesti Español فارسی Français 한국어 Bahasa Indonesia Íslenska Italiano مصرى Norsk bokmål Polski Português Русский Slovenščina Suomi Svenska Türkçe 中文 Edit links This page was last edited on 5 January 2021, at 02:49 (UTC). 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