Francis Hutcheson
Overview
Quotations
That Action is best which procures the greatest Happiness for the greatest Numbers; and that worst, which, in like manner, occasions misery.
Inquiry into the Original of our Ideas of Beauty and Virtue (1725) Treatise II, Section 3
The ultimate notion of right is that which tends to the universal good; and when one's acting in a certain manner has this tendency he has a right thus to act.
A System of Moral Philosophy : The General Notions of Rights and Laws Explained (1755) Book II, Ch. III