Description

Joseph Butler (1692-1752) was an English bishop, theologian, apologist, and philosopher. He is known, among other things, for his critique of Deism, Thomas Hobbes's egosim, and John Locke's theory of personal identity, and influenced many philosophers and religious thinkers, including David Hume, Adam Smith and John Henry Newman. He also played a role in the development of 18th century economic discourse. After deciding to enter the Church of England in 1714, he went to Oriel College, Oxford, receiving his BA in 1718 and later proceeded Doctor of Civil Law in 1733. He was ordained a deacon in October 1718, and a priest in December that year. In 1736 he was made the head chaplain of George II's wife Caroline, and made Bishop of Bristol in 1738. Retaining this position, he was installed Dean of St Paul's in 1740 and kept that office until his translation to Durham in 1750. During his lifetime, and for many years after his death, Butler was most famous for his Analogy of Religion, Natural and Revealed (1736), one of many book-length replies to the deists which was long believed to be the most effective. This collection of his sermons is reprinted from the Cassells edition of 1887.