1723 – 1791
Richard Price (1723–1791) was a Welsh moral philosopher, Nonconformist minister, and political theorist whose rationalist ethics argued that moral distinctions are objective truths apprehended by reason rather than sentiment. He made foundational contributions to both normative ethics and probability theory, notably editing and publishing Thomas Bayes's posthumous paper on inverse probability. His political writings in support of the American and French Revolutions provoked Edmund Burke's celebrated counter-argument in Reflections on the Revolution in France.
Developed a rationalist foundation for ethics in A Review of the Principal Questions in Morals (1758), defending moral realism against Humean sentimentalism
Edited and communicated Thomas Bayes's theorem on inverse probability to the Royal Society (1763), establishing modern Bayesian inference
Authored Observations on the Nature of Civil Liberty (1776), influencing American revolutionary thought
Delivered A Discourse on the Love of Our Country (1789), sparking Burke's Reflections and the broader debate on the French Revolution
Contributed to actuarial science and life-table calculations used in early insurance and pension schemes