1686 – 1748
John Balguy (1686–1748) was an English Anglican clergyman and moral philosopher in the rationalist tradition. He argued that moral goodness is an objective, mind-independent property of actions and objects, discoverable through reason rather than sentiment. His work was a direct response to the moral sense theories of Shaftesbury and Hutcheson, defending a Clarkean rationalism in ethics.
Defended objective moral rationalism in The Foundation of Moral Goodness (1728)
Argued that moral and aesthetic excellence are intrinsic, reason-discernible qualities of objects
Critiqued sentiment-based moral theories of Shaftesbury and Hutcheson
Extended Samuel Clarke's rationalist ethics into questions of aesthetic value
Contributed to the 18th-century debate between moral rationalism and moral sentimentalism