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Early Modern · 1672
On the Laws of Nature
De Legibus Naturae
Richard Cumberland · 1631–1718
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What it is
An answer to Hobbes arguing that the natural law is the pursuit of the common good of all rational beings, discoverable from the constitution of the world.
Why it lasted
An early form of the greatest-happiness principle, and a major bridge between Christian natural law and later utilitarian ethics.
Where to read it
Public domain and free to read in full, though not held here. The archives below have it.
These open a search on each archive rather than a direct link, which is the honest way to point at an edition nobody here has checked line by line.
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