Original scientific paper

Two approaches to self-love: Hutcheson and Butler

Christian Maurer

Abstract

This paper contrasts Frankfurt’s characterisation of self-love as disinterested with the predominant 18th-century view on self-love as interested. Ttwo senses of the term ‘interest’ are distinguished
to discuss two fundamentally different readings of the claim that self-love promotes the agent’s interest. This allows characterising two approaches to self-love, which are found in Hutcheson’s and in Bbutler’s writings. Hutcheson sees self-love as a source of hedonistic motives, which can be calm or passionate. Bbutler sees it as a general affection of rational beings in the sense of a kind of love of one’s real nature.

Keywords

self-love; interest; passions; Francis Hutcheson; Joseph Bbutler; Harry Frankfurt

Hrčak ID:

92071

URI

https://hrcak.srce.hr/92071

Publication date:

1.6.2006.

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