Joseph Butler

For other people named Joseph Butler, see Joseph Butler (disambiguation).

Joseph Butler
Born	18 May 1692
Died	16 June 1752
Honored in	Anglican Communion
Feast	16 June

Joseph Butler

Full name	Joseph Butler
Born	18 May 1692 Wantage, Berkshire, England
Died	16 June 1752 Bath, Somerset, England
Era	18th-century philosophy
Region	Western Philosophy
School	British Empiricism, Christian philosophy
Influenced by Plato, Thomas Hobbes, John Locke, Francis Hutcheson
Influenced Adam Smith, David Hume, Thomas Reid, William Paley, Jeremy Bentham, David Seabury, C. S. Lewis, John Warwick Montgomery

Joseph Butler (18 May 1692 O.S. – 16 June 1752) was an English 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 Thomas Hobbes's egoism and John Locke's theory of personal identity. During his life and after his death, Butler influenced many philosophers, including David Hume, Thomas Reid, and Adam Smith.

Life

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. Whilst there, he entered into a secret correspondence with the conformist controversialist Samuel Clarke; his letters were taken to Gloucester post office by Secker, who also collected Clarke's responses from there. Clarke later published this correspondence. In 1714, Butler decided to enter the Church of England, and went to Oriel College, Oxford. After holding various other high positions, he became rector of the rich living of Stanhope.

In 1736 he was made the head chaplain of King George II's wife Caroline, on the advice of Lancelot Blackburne. In 1738 he was appointed bishop of Bristol. He is said (apocryphally) to have declined an offer to become the archbishop of Canterbury in 1747. He became Bishop of Durham in 1750.

He is most famous for his Fifteen Sermons Preached at the Rolls Chapel (1726) and Analogy of Religion, Natural and Revealed (1736). The Analogy is an important work of Christian apologetics in the history of the controversies over deism. Butler's apologetic concentrated on "the general analogy between the principles of divine government, as set forth by the biblical revelation, and those observable in the course of nature, [an analogy which] leads us to the warrantable conclusion that there is one Author of both." Butler's arguments combined a cumulative case for faith using probabilistic reasoning to persuade deists and others to reconsider orthodox faith. Aspects of his apologetic reasoning are reflected in the writings of twentieth century Christian apologists such as C. S. Lewis and John Warwick Montgomery. Overall, his two books are remarkable and original contributions to ethics and theology. They depend for their effect entirely upon the force of their reasoning, for they have no graces of style.

The "Sermons on Human Nature" is commonly studied as an answer to Hobbes' philosophy of ethical egoism. These two books are considered by his followers to be among the most powerful and original contributions to ethics, apologetics and theology which have ever been made.

Today, he is commonly cited for the blunt epigram, "Every thing is what it is, and not another thing."

Butler died in 1752 at Rosewell House, Kingsmead Square in Bath, Somerset. 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).

Works

• Several letters to the Reverend Dr. Clarke, 1716, 1719, 1725
• Fifteen sermons preached at the Rolls Chapel, 1726, 1729, 1736, 1749, 1759, 1765, 1769, 1774, 1792
• The analogy of religion, 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

See also

• Altruism
• Christian philosophy

References and further reading

• 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; New York, E. P. Dutton.
• "Butler, Joseph." Encyclopædia Britannica, 1911 ed.
• Brown, Colin (1984). Miracles and the Critical Mind, Paternoster, Exeter UK/William B. Eerdmans, Grand Rapids.
• Craig, William Lane (1985). 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.
• Dulles, Avery (1999). A History of Apologetics, Wipf & Stock, Eugene, Oregon.
• Ensink, Bernhard (1995). Ethik und Theologie bei Joseph Butler (1692-1752), Uitgeverij Kok, Kampen.
• Ramm, Bernard (1962). "Joseph Butler," Varieties of Christian Apologetics: An Introduction to the Christian Philosophy of Religion, Baker Book House, Grand Rapids, pp. 107–124.
• Rurak, James (1980). "Butler's Analogy: A Still Interesting Synthesis of Reason and Revelation," Anglican Theological Review 62 (October) pp. 365–381.
• White, David E. (2006). "Joseph Butler," The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, J. Fieser & B. Dowden (eds.).

External links

• Joseph Butler - entry of The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy.
• Contains Correspondence with Clarke, three episodes from Analogy of Religion, and five of the Fifteen Sermons, all lightly edited for easier reading

• Works by Joseph Butler at Project Gutenberg

Church of England titles
Preceded by Thomas Gooch	Bishop of Bristol 1738–1750	Succeeded by John Conybeare
Preceded by Edward Chandler	Bishop of Durham 1750–1752	Succeeded by Richard Trevor