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| Dr James Dingley presenting his talk on Francis Hutcheson at the Dark Horse |
Cercle member Eileen Griffiths reports on our last talk given by Dr James Dingley entitled Francis Hutcheson and the foundation of Modern France.
At the
Dark Horse on Wednesday 23 October, Dr James Dingley gave a very
comprehensive and illuminating talk on the moral philosopher Francis Hutcheson,
who was born in Saintfield in 1694 and whose work influenced social and
political thinking in Great Britain and Ireland from the 18th century onwards. He was hailed as the ‘Father of the Scottish
Enlightenment’ and his philosophy informed the United Irishmen movement. His
influence spread further afield and his ideas of no state religion, with a
stress on individual civil and religious liberty and equality, also contributed
to the French and American revolutions.
Hutcheson
was a Presbyterian minister of the New Light movement, which embraced all ideas
of enlightenment and science, believing that studying and obeying the laws of
nature brought one closer to God. They also thought that religion should be a
private matter, and that better results were obtained when there weren’t the
constraints imposed by the hierarchies of an established church. Dr. Dingley
explained that this partly accounts for the Presbyterian church being such a
rich ground for radical philosophies at that time, though their position also played a part in
that they were excluded from the body politic until the end of the century and
were unable to attend the main universities. In fact, Hutcheson did his best
work in his ten years at a Dissenting academy in Dublin. These academies taught
new sciences and business and were intellectual hothouses, being influenced by
the ideas of the English and Continental Enlightenment. All the European
thinkers read each other and in Ulster, the more practical philosophy of the
English met the more abstract philosophy of the Europeans. Hutcheson was able
to benefit from this and to carry the ideas forward to Glasgow university where
he taught for the last sixteen years of his life.
After
200 years of religious wars Hutcheson and his peers believed in freeing the
individual from constraints and oppression, in taking religion out of the
public sphere so that everyone had equal opportunities. They adhered to the
view that man is not innately sinful, and that order and harmony would come via
inner discipline and through mutual inter-dependence, not from aristocratic or
clerical control. Hutcheson believed in
the greatest happiness for the greatest number and that virtue and good
behaviour, not greed, self-interest or rights, would yield the greatest
happiness. The industrious individual was the model of virtue, order and
conduct.
In terms
of a French connection, pamphlets of the French revolution reflected Ulster
Presbyterian ideals. Hutcheson was a major influence on Voltaire and Rousseau
and through them made a large contribution to the French revolution, to the
ideas of the separation of law and state and to the no teaching of religion in
schools. The French Enlightenment was very pro-Plantation, attracted to the
concept of civility and progress. The belief was that trade encouraged civility
because people had to learn to liaise and cooperate and create an open space
for everyone. The French language was
commonly used for trade in Europe at that time and James pointed out
that our local Newsletter carried adverts for French dancing etc.
Hutcheson
died in 1746 and James expressed surprise that a man of Hutcheson’s
stature, a mentor to such notable figures as Adam Smith and David Hume and a
major influencer in Europe and America, should be largely unknown in his
homeland, with no statue, only a plaque to celebrate and immortalize his life. Dr. Dingley said that on his travels abroad he
often met people who were much more aware of Hutcheson’s significance, than
here at home. Certainly it seems as
though a man of his ilk could be useful in our current crises!
Eileen Griffiths
Eileen's collection of vignettes, Older not Wiser, was published earlier this year by Lupus Books, ISBN 978-1-916031-80-7. We are grateful to her for writing this piece for our blog and take this opportunity to extend special thanks to James for a "very comprehensive and illuminating talk".
Un très grand merci !