1659 – 1724
William Wollaston (1659–1724) was an English rationalist moral philosopher best known for his work 'The Religion of Nature Delineated' (1722), in which he grounded ethics in truth and reason rather than divine command or sentiment. He argued that moral wrongdoing consists fundamentally in acting as if false propositions were true, making morality a species of rational truth-telling. Though largely eclipsed by contemporaries like Hume and Hutcheson, he was a significant figure in early Enlightenment moral rationalism.
Developed a truth-based theory of morality in 'The Religion of Nature Delineated' (1722)
Argued that moral wrongs are equivalent to asserting false propositions through action
Defended the objectivity of moral and aesthetic qualities as mind-independent features of reality
Influenced early critiques of moral sentimentalism and subjectivism
Prompted Hume's critique of rationalist ethics in the Treatise