Francis Hutcheson is considered by many scholars of philosophy to be the father of the Scottish Enlightenment. He was influential in defining the modern social, political, economic, and institutional world. Despite his influence, he has been widely forgotten, until now. This considerable volume in Hutcheson's vast work addresses the nature of human nature. In the great tradition of Enlightenment thinkers before and after him, Hutcheson is here engaged in a process of defining terms on which social, political, and economic liberty could be justified in light of centuries of rule by various tyrants and monarchs. As editor Aaron Garrett notes, "In the Essay Hutcheson provides his crucial argument against Hobbes and Mandeville, that not just egoistic self preservation, but also benevolence, is an essential feature of human nature." Professor Garrett has constructed a critical variorum edition of this great work. As there are no manuscripts of the work, this could be done only by comparing all extant lifetime editions.