Richard Cumberland and Natural Law By Linda Kirk The first biographical and intellectual study of the most influential of 18th-century natural law philosophers, whose writings prefigured the rise of classical utilitarian thought. ISBN-13: 9780227678596 Specifications: 216x135mm, 144pp, Hardback Price: £30.00 • US$62.50 Publication: October 1987 Order this Title Now

About this Book

No study in the history of seventeenth century thought is completed without some mention of Richard Cumberland, one of the many writers who aimed to refute Hobbes. Cumberland remains on of the few important writers of his century on whom, until now, nothing of substance has been written

In the past Cumberland has been somewhat unfairly overshadowed by his fellow anti-Hobbists. His one important work, De Legibus Naturae, first appeared in Latin in 1672 and has never been satisfactorily translated into English. That he published so little in such a prolific age was unusual, but his influence through his work continued to be felt well into the nineteenth century. It is now clear that he went further than both Grotius and Pufendorf in devising a system which prefigured classical utilitarianism, propounding a cosmology based upon the reconciliation of charity and self-interest.

In this study, Cumberland is placed for the first time, in his intellectual and historical setting. The author describes Cumberland's life, his work as Bishop of Peterborough, his book and above all his position in the development of natural law theory.

About the Author

After lecturing for a period at what was then the University College of Rhodesia, Linda Kirk took up a lectureship in history at the University of Sheffield. She has published articles on political thought in Protestant Christianity in seventeenth-century England and eighteenth-century Geneva; she is at present working on a book which examines the impact of the Enlightenment of Geneva politics and political debate.