This thesis examines Shaftesbury’s Characteristics of Men, Manners, Opinions, Times (1711), and revisits his concepts of aesthetics and ethics by providing a key to understanding his controversial methodology and definitions of terms. Kubota claims that Shaftesbury's main purpose in writing Characteristics is to defend the concept of innate ideas of beauty and moral goodness against the views of Hobbes and Locke. Not only is Characteristics a significant work of moral and aesthetic theory, but it is Shaftesbury’s attempt to act on his theory and put it into practice. Through describing the place of actual life experiences, he intends to show that the various aspects of the concepts he discusses contribute to the whole or the end of the universe, to realize ultimate beauty. Kubota claims that his challenging use of terminology – in which words have many definitions – may be understood in light of his teleological and dualistic view of humanity. His view of dualism and the dialectic categorization of each term, showing the two opposed or distinct characters of each term and the integrated character of the two, reveals either a partial or an integrated human condition. Thus, he changes the meaning of his terms depending on which level he is discussing. Kubota argues that his concept of an innate moral and aesthetic sense is found in the third character of terms such as the third manner (miscellaneous manner) which is the integrated state of both poetical manner and methodical manner, the third truth (moral truth) which is the integrated state of both poetical manner and historical manner, and the third affection (natural affection) which is the integrated state of self-affection and public-affection. It is only this integrated self which reveals the innate moral sense, in which one can experience and create true beauty, virtue, and enthusiasm, resulting in a state of happiness where one is able to serve both the self and the public good.

Thesis--Lunds Universitet. / Includes bibliographical references (p. [190]-191).

Thesis--Albertus-Universität, Königsberg. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis--Lunds Universitet. / Includes bibliographical references (p. [190]-191).

Thesis--Albertus-Universität, Königsberg. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis--Heidelberg. / Vita.

Zugl.: Osnabrück, Universiẗat, Diss.

O presente trabalho procura entender como Anthony Ashley Cooper (o Terceiro Conde de Shaftesbury) concebeu a noção de caráter moderno a partir da análise de alguns elementos de sua filosofia, a saber: a relação entre o gênero humano e a natureza, a formação da identidade individual e a de uma época, o vínculo entre a questão da escritura e a atividade filosófica. Cada um dos três capítulos de nosso estudo foi dedicado (respectivamente) a um desses assuntos. Tendo como base Os moralistas, a Investigação sobre a virtude e a Carta sobre o entusiasmo, o primeiro capítulo busca examinar o vínculo que Shaftesbury estabelece entre o homem e o sistema da natureza, ou seja: como o gênero humano se relaciona com o universo e qual é o seu papel no interior do mundo natural. A partir da idéia shaftesburiana de solilóquio (exposta no texto que leva o mesmo nome: Solilóquio ou conselho a um autor), o segundo capítulo procura compreender como o filósofo inglês pensa o liame entre o que ele mesmo denomina processo de personificação e o surgimento das artes, da filosofia e da identidade de uma época. Por fim, o terceiro capítulo visa mostrar que a questão da polidez e do aprimoramento do gosto não apenas foi um dos principais temas da obra do filósofo inglês, como também está intimamente ligada à sua concepção de filosofia. / The object of this thesis is the philosophy of Anthony Ashley Cooper, third earl of Shaftesbury, and more specifically the conception it presents of a modern character. Shaftesbury\'s understanding of modernity in philosophical terms is present in at least three of the main themes of his philosophy: the relation between mankind and nature, the formation of the individual character as a component of the character of the times, the bounds that tie philosophical reflection to the art of writing. The first chapter of the thesis examines Shaftesbury understanding of man\'s role in the natural world, or the relations between mankind as a species and nature as a system. The focus is on The moralists, a philosophical rhapsody, An inquiry concerning virtue or merit and A letter of enthusiasm. The second chapter deals with the text of Soliloquy, or advice to an author, in order to show how Shaftesbury conceives the process of personification as the precondition for the rising of the arts (including philosophy) which in turn are taken as the defining element of the character of the times. The third chapter shows that politeness and the refinement of taste, far from being mere motifs of fashion, are understood by Shaftesbury as philosophical topics of major importance. The focus here is on the texts of the Miscellaneous reflections and of Plastics.

Diss.--Philosophische Fakultät--Zürich, 2002. / Bibliogr. p. 169-188.

Th.--Philos.--Paris 1, 1982.