moral sense school
E638717
The moral sense school is an early modern ethical theory, associated with thinkers like Francis Hutcheson and David Hume, which holds that humans possess an innate moral faculty or sentiment that enables them to perceive right and wrong.
All labels observed (2)
| Label | Occurrences |
|---|---|
| British moral sense school | 1 |
| moral sense school canonical | 1 |
How this entity was disambiguated
This entity first appeared as the object of triple T7041538 — resolving that mention is where its identity was fixed. The disambiguator weighed these candidate entities and picked the highlighted one (or “None”, minting a new entity). This is how homonymy is resolved: the same surface form can point to different entities.
NED1
Entity disambiguation (via context triple)
gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07
Target entity: moral sense school Context triple: [A Short Introduction to Moral Philosophy, philosophicalSchool, moral sense school]
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A.
The Elements of Morality
The Elements of Morality is a 19th-century philosophical treatise by William Whewell that systematically explores ethical theory, moral duties, and the foundations of human conduct.
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B.
Review of the Principal Questions in Morals
Review of the Principal Questions in Morals is an 18th-century philosophical treatise by Richard Price that defends rationalist ethics and the objectivity of moral truths.
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C.
Institutes of Moral Philosophy
Institutes of Moral Philosophy is an 18th-century treatise by Scottish Enlightenment thinker Adam Ferguson that systematically explores ethics, human nature, and the principles of moral judgment.
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D.
Education: Intellectual, Moral, and Physical
"Education: Intellectual, Moral, and Physical" is an influential 19th-century work by Herbert Spencer that outlines his philosophy of holistic education, emphasizing scientific training, moral development, and physical well-being.
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E.
Lectures on Moral Philosophy
Lectures on Moral Philosophy is a collection of influential 18th-century ethical and philosophical teachings by Scottish-American Presbyterian minister and educator John Witherspoon, reflecting his role in shaping early American moral and political thought.
- F. None of above. chosen
- G. Unsure - the case is ambiguous/there is not enough information to decide.
NED2
Entity disambiguation (via description)
gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07
Target entity: moral sense school Target entity description: The moral sense school is an early modern ethical theory, associated with thinkers like Francis Hutcheson and David Hume, which holds that humans possess an innate moral faculty or sentiment that enables them to perceive right and wrong.
-
A.
The Elements of Morality
The Elements of Morality is a 19th-century philosophical treatise by William Whewell that systematically explores ethical theory, moral duties, and the foundations of human conduct.
-
B.
Review of the Principal Questions in Morals
Review of the Principal Questions in Morals is an 18th-century philosophical treatise by Richard Price that defends rationalist ethics and the objectivity of moral truths.
-
C.
Institutes of Moral Philosophy
Institutes of Moral Philosophy is an 18th-century treatise by Scottish Enlightenment thinker Adam Ferguson that systematically explores ethics, human nature, and the principles of moral judgment.
-
D.
Education: Intellectual, Moral, and Physical
"Education: Intellectual, Moral, and Physical" is an influential 19th-century work by Herbert Spencer that outlines his philosophy of holistic education, emphasizing scientific training, moral development, and physical well-being.
-
E.
Lectures on Moral Philosophy
Lectures on Moral Philosophy is a collection of influential 18th-century ethical and philosophical teachings by Scottish-American Presbyterian minister and educator John Witherspoon, reflecting his role in shaping early American moral and political thought.
- F. None of above. chosen
Statements (47)
| Predicate | Object |
|---|---|
| instanceOf |
early modern philosophical movement
ⓘ
ethical theory ⓘ metaethical theory ⓘ moral philosophy position ⓘ |
| addressesQuestion |
the nature of moral motivation
ⓘ
the origin of moral distinctions ⓘ the relation between reason and emotion in ethics ⓘ |
| associatedWithPhilosopher |
Anthony Ashley-Cooper, 3rd Earl of Shaftesbury
ⓘ
David Hume ⓘ Francis Hutcheson ⓘ Joseph Butler ⓘ Thomas Reid ⓘ |
| claimsAboutHumanNature |
humans are not purely self-interested in moral judgment
ⓘ
humans have a natural disposition to approve benevolence ⓘ |
| debatesWith |
Kantian rationalism
ⓘ
linked to:
Kantianism
utilitarianism ⓘ |
| denies | that morality is derived solely from rational deduction ⓘ |
| developedInCentury | 18th century ⓘ |
| developedInPeriod | early modern period ⓘ |
| emphasizes |
emotions in ethics
ⓘ
moral sentiments ⓘ the role of sympathy in moral judgment ⓘ |
| hasAlternativeName |
moral sense theory
ⓘ
moral sentimentalism ⓘ |
| historicalContext |
British Enlightenment
ⓘ
Scottish Enlightenment ⓘ |
| holdsThat |
moral approval is a kind of pleasurable sentiment
ⓘ
moral disapproval is a kind of painful sentiment ⓘ moral distinctions are perceived rather than inferred ⓘ moral sense is analogous to aesthetic taste ⓘ |
| influenced |
later sentimentalist ethics
ⓘ
some forms of contemporary moral psychology ⓘ |
| influencedPhilosopher | Adam Smith ⓘ |
| influencedWork | The Theory of Moral Sentiments ⓘ |
| mainClaim |
humans can perceive right and wrong through a special moral sense
ⓘ
humans possess an innate moral faculty or sentiment ⓘ moral judgments are grounded in feeling rather than pure reason ⓘ |
| methodologicalApproach | empiricist ⓘ |
| opposedTo |
Hobbesian egoism
ⓘ
psychological egoism ⓘ rationalist ethics of Ralph Cudworth ⓘ rationalist ethics of Samuel Clarke ⓘ |
| relatedConcept |
approval and disapproval
ⓘ
benevolence ⓘ moral sense ⓘ moral sentiment ⓘ sympathy ⓘ |
How these facts were elicited
The pipeline generated the facts above by prompting gpt-5.1 with this entity's name + description and the instruction below.
Instruction
You are a knowledge base construction expert. Given a subject entity and a description of it, return factual statements that you know for the subject as a JSON list of dictionaries(triples), where keys must be "subject", "predicate" and "object". The number of facts may be very high, between 25 to 50 or more, for very popular subjects. For less popular subjects, the number of facts can be very low, like 5 or 10. # Requirements - If you don't know the subject at all, return an empty list. - If the subject is not a named entity, return an empty list. - Include at least one triple where predicate is "instanceOf". - Do not get too wordy. - Separate several objects into multiple triples with one object.
Input
Subject: moral sense school Description of subject: The moral sense school is an early modern ethical theory, associated with thinkers like Francis Hutcheson and David Hume, which holds that humans possess an innate moral faculty or sentiment that enables them to perceive right and wrong.
Referenced by (2)
Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.
subject linked to:
Shaftesbury family
linked to: moral sense school