Natural Rights on the Threshold of the Scottish Enlightenment: The Writing of Gershom Carmichael (Natural Law and Enlightenment Classics)

James Moore & Michael Silverthorne (Edited by); Knud Haakonssen (General Editor); James Moore (Foreword by); Michael Silverthorne (Translated from Latin by)

ISBN 10: 0865973202 / ISBN 13: 9780865973206

Published by Liberty Fund, Inc., Indianapolis, IN, 2002

About this Item

405 pp. Clean, fresh copy with very light shelf wear, crisp pages and clean text. Synopsis: Gershom Carmichael was a teacher and writer who played an important role in the Scottish enlightenment of the eighteenth century. His philosophy focused on the natural rights of individuals the natural right to defend oneself, to own the property on which one has labored, and to services contracted for with others. Carmichael argued that slavery is incompatible with the rights of men and citizens, and he believed that subjects have the right to resist rulers who exceed the limits of their powers.Although he appealed to the authority of Grotius and Locke, the grounds on which he defended natural rights were distinctively his own. He drew upon the Reformed or Presbyterian theology to propose that, in respecting the natural rights of individuals, one shows one's reverence for God's creation. Inasmuch as all of mankind longs for lasting happiness, which can be found only in worship of or reverence for God, such reverence is the natural law which obliges all to respect the rights of all.

Seller Inventory # 4iiiEc0020

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Natural Rights on the Threshold of the Scottish Enlightenment: The Writing of Gershom Carmichael (Natural Law and Enlightenment Classics)
• Publisher: Liberty Fund, Inc., Indianapolis, IN
• Publication Date: 2002
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0865973202
• ISBN 13: 9780865973206
• Binding: Trade Paperback
• Condition: Like New
• Seller catalogs:
  • English & British Studies, Literature, History
  • European Literature, Culture, History & Studies
  • Academic, Scholarly, Research

About this title

Synopsis

Gershom Carmichael (1672–1729) was the first professor of moral philosophy at the University of Glasgow, preceding Hutcheson, Smith, and Reid. His philosophy focused on the natural rights of individuals―the natural right to defend oneself, to own the property on which one has labored, and to services contracted for with others. Although he appealed to the authority of Grotius and Locke, the grounds on which he defended natural rights were distinctively his own. Natural Rights is the first modern edition and translation of his published works.

James Moore is Emeritus Professor of Political Science at Concordia University in Montreal.

Michael Silverthorne is Honorary University Fellow in the School of Classics at the University of Exeter.

About the Author

James Moore is a reader in history of science and technology at the Open University.

Michael Silverthorne is Honorary University Fellow, Department of Classics, University of Exeter. He is co-editor with Lisa Jardine of Francis Bacon: The New Organon (2000).

Michael Silverthorne is Honorary University Fellow, Department of Classics, University of Exeter. He is co-editor with Lisa Jardine of Francis Bacon: The New Organon (2000).