Abstract

This chapter discusses the views on self-interest and morality of Anthony Ashley Cooper, the 3rd Earl of Shaftesbury (1671–1713), focusing in particular on his _Characteristics of Men, Manners, Opinions, Times_, but also discussing other works such as his _Regimen_. Shaftesbury’s commitment to Stoic ethics is elucidated. He is claimed to accept a broadly Aristotelian account of moral motivation, which resolves any ultimate conflict between morality and self-interest in the goals of a rational agent. The ethical aspects of his moral philosophy are brought out. His restricted hedonism, and in particular his views on the hedonic value of virtue and ‘higher pleasures’, are explained and criticized.