Fifteen Sermons Preached at the Rolls Chapel explained

Fifteen Sermons Preached at the Rolls Chapel is a collection of sermons by English Bishop Joseph Butler first published in 1726. The earlier sermons try to reconcile ethical egoism and benevolence, laying out a view of moral psychology which is explored in the later sermons within particular cases (e.g., self-deception, forgiveness, resentment).

Butler was appointed to the job of preacher at the Rolls Chapel in London's legal district in 1719. The job was Butler's first, and a prestigious one at that. He held it for six or seven years. When the first edition of these sermons appeared he had already left London for Stanhope. His other sermons preached here were lost; the Rolls Chapel no longer survives and in his will, Butler specified that any papers found "be burnt without being read by anyone".^{[1] [2]} The Fifteen Sermons were later published together with Six Sermons on Public Occasions, preached by Butler between 1738 and 1749 on subjects relating to civil society (for example, charity and the mission of the church).^[1]

The moral psychology presented in the Sermons proved influential. David Hume and Adam Smith took note of it in developing their own theories of the moral sentiments. The publication of Butler's major treatise, The Analogy of Religion, ten years after the Sermons tended to push the Sermons into obscurity.^[2] This trend began to be reversed by the end of the 18th century. Samuel Taylor Coleridge held the Sermons in high regard^[1] and William Hazlitt wrote of Butler:

Philosopher Aaron Garrett described the Sermonss later influence as follows:

The genre of published sermons was a commonplace one in Butler's time but, as editor of Butler's work David E. White notes, "of all the English sermons published at any time, Butler's are the only ones routinely studied in secular classes in moral philosophy."^[2] Garrett notes how surprising it is that such a "high degree of analytic rigor and argumentative care" should be present "in sermons (and particularly in footnotes to sermons)."

External links

Fifteen Sermons Preached at the Rolls Chapel. Project Canterbury HTML transcription.

Notes and References

1. Butler, Joseph . Cunliffe . Christoper . 2008 . 4198.
2. Book: White, David E. . Introduction . The Works of Bishop Butler . Rochester Studies in Philosophy . University of Rochester Press . White . David E. . 2006.