Francis Hutcheson (August 8, 1694 – August 8, 1746) was a philosopher born in Ireland to a family of Scottish Presbyterians who became one of the founding fathers of the Scottish Enlightenment.
He is thought to have been born at Drumalig, in the parish of Saintfield, County Down, Ireland. Hutcheson was educated at Killyleagh, and went on to Scotland to study at the University of Glasgow, where he spent six years at first in the study of philosoph...
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Francis Hutcheson (August 8, 1694 – August 8, 1746) was a philosopher born in Ireland to a family of Scottish Presbyterians who became one of the founding fathers of the Scottish Enlightenment.
He is thought to have been born at Drumalig, in the parish of Saintfield, County Down, Ireland. Hutcheson was educated at Killyleagh, and went on to Scotland to study at the University of Glasgow, where he spent six years at first in the study of philosophy, classics and general literature, and afterwards in the study of theology, receiving his degree in 1712 and obtaining his license to preach within the Presbyterian church in 1716.
However, facing suspicions about his "Irish" roots and his association with theologian John Simson (then under investigation by Scottish ecclesiastical courts), ministry in Scotland was unlikely to be a success so he left the church returning to Ireland to pursue a career in academia. He was induced to start a private academy in Dublin, where he taught for 10 years...
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