An Essay On The Nature Of True Virtue

The 18th century was a wealth of knowledge, exploration and rapidly growing technology and expanding record-keeping made possible by advances in the printing press. In its determination to preserve the century of revolution, Gale initiated a revolution of its own: digitization of epic proportions to preserve these invaluable works in the largest archive of its kind. Now for the first time these high-quality digital copies of original 18th century manuscripts are available in print, making them highly accessible to libraries, undergraduate students, and independent scholars. The Age of Enlightenment profoundly enriched religious and philosophical understanding and continues to influence present-day thinking. Works collected here include masterpieces by David Hume, Immanuel Kant, and Jean-Jacques Rousseau, as well as religious sermons and moral debates on the issues of the day, such as the slave trade. The Age of Reason saw conflict between Protestantism and Catholicism transformed into one between faith and logic -- a debate that continues in the twenty-first century. ++++ The below data was compiled from various identification fields in the bibliographic record of this title. This data is provided as an additional tool in helping to insure edition identification: ++++ British Library T057073 Anonymous. By Jonathan Edwards. Originally published in 1765 in 'Two dissertations I. Concerning the end for which God created the world. II. The nature of true virtue.'. London: printed by W. Oliver: sold by T. Payne and Son; T. Cadell; Messrs Dilly; C. Parker; Mr Prince, at Oxford; Mr Merril, at Cambridge, 1778. xv, [1],278p.; 8°

A major work in moral philosophy by the Puritan who was the most modern man of his age. Edwards at his very greatest . . . he speaks with an insight into science and psychology so much ahead of his time that our own can hardly be said to have caught up with him. Perry Miller, 'Jonathan Edwards' Like the great speculators Augustine, Aquinas, and Pascal, Jonathan Edwards treated religious ideas as problems not of dogma, but of life. His exploration of self-love disguised as true virtue is grounded in the hard facts of human behavior. More than a hellfire preacher, more than a theologian, Edwards was a bold and independent philosopher. Nowhere is his force of mind more evident than in this book. He speaks as powerfully to us today as he did to the keenest minds of the eighteenth century.

What does it mean to be virtuous? How is virtue connected to the love of God? These are the questions Jonathan Edwards sets out to answer in his dissertation on the nature of true virtue. With relentless logic, Edwards argues from common experience to general principles. He distinguishes between primary and secondary forms of virtue and shows that the highest human actions must necessarily arise from a clear sense of God's purpose. "The general nature of true virtue," he says, "is love."