and the elements of law -- 2. The law of nature -- 3. Varieties of natural states -- 4. The natural necessity of property -- 5. Necessity, slavery, and industry -- III. John Locke. 1. The foundation of natural law -- 2. The characteristics of natural law -- 3. Property : its origins and development -- IV. Francis Hutcheson. 1. Moral science and moral sense -- 2. Moral sense and moral sensibilia -- 3. Natural law and varieties of rights -- 4. Property and political constitution -- V. David Hume. 1. The problem of reconciliation -- 2. The Newtonian -- 3. The sceptic -- 4. The division of the virtues : Hume's intentions -- 5. Moral beauty, motives, and obligations -- 6. Justice as an artificial virtue -- 7. Hume's footnote -- Appendix. The psychology of moral action : from Locke's Essay to Hutcheson's Inquiry.

Provides an historical perspective on the political philosophies of Locke and Hume, identifying continuities in the development of 17th and 18th-century political theory. Argues that Hume's moral sense theory was an attempt to underpin natural law with an adequate moral psychology.