John Gay (1699–1745), a cousin of the poet

John Gay John Gay (30 June 1685 – 4 December 1732) was an English poet and dramatist and member of the Scriblerus Club. He is best remembered for ''The Beggar's Opera'' (1728), a ballad opera. The characters, including Captain Macheath and Polly Peach ...

, was an English

philosopher Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...

, biblical scholar and

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the State religion#State churches, established List of Christian denominations, Christian church in England and the Crown Dependencies. It is the mother church of the Anglicanism, Anglican Christian tradition, ...

clergyman. The greatest happiness principle, Gay supposed, represented a middle ground between the egoism of

Hobbes Thomas Hobbes ( ; 5 April 1588 – 4 December 1679) was an English philosopher, best known for his 1651 book ''Leviathan'', in which he expounds an influential formulation of social contract theory. He is considered to be one of the founders ...

and Hutcheson's moral sense theory.

Education

Gay was educated at Torrington School and Blundell's School. In 1718 he was elected Blundell's Scholar at

Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge Sidney Sussex College (historically known as "Sussex College" and today referred to informally as "Sidney") is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge in England. The College was founded in 1 ...

, graduating B.A. in 1721/2 and M.A. in 1725. From 1724 to 1732 he was a

Fellow A fellow is a title and form of address for distinguished, learned, or skilled individuals in academia, medicine, research, and industry. The exact meaning of the term differs in each field. In learned society, learned or professional society, p ...

of the College, lecturing in Hebrew, Greek, and ecclesiastical history.

Philosophy

Gay's philosophical works argued that virtue was conforming to a rule of life which promotes the happiness of others. His short "Dissertation Concerning the Fundamental Principle of Virtue or Morality" was first published as a preface to Edmund Law's translation of William King's Latin Essay on the Origin of Evil (1731). (Law was Bishop of Carlisle and King was

Archbishop of Dublin The Archbishop of Dublin () is an Episcopal polity, archiepiscopal title which takes its name from Dublin, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Since the Reformation in Ireland, Reformation, there have been parallel apostolic successions to the title: ...

.) The "Dissertation" is one of the seminal works in the history of English

utilitarianism In ethical philosophy, utilitarianism is a family of normative ethical theories that prescribe actions that maximize happiness and well-being for the affected individuals. In other words, utilitarian ideas encourage actions that lead to the ...

. In the eighteenth century its influence may be found in the works of the theological utilitarians, Abraham Tucker (''The Light of Nature Pursued'', 7 vols., 1768–1778) and

William Paley William Paley (July 174325 May 1805) was an English Anglican clergyman, Christian apologetics, Christian apologist, philosopher, and Utilitarianism, utilitarian. He is best known for his natural theology exposition of the teleological argument ...

(''Principles of Moral and Political Philosophy'', 1785). David Hartley said that Gay's assertion of the importance of psychological association in human nature was the origin of his '' Observations on Man'' (1749). In 1730 Gay resigned his fellowship and became

Vicar A vicar (; Latin: '' vicarius'') is a representative, deputy or substitute; anyone acting "in the person of" or agent for a superior (compare "vicarious" in the sense of "at second hand"). Linguistically, ''vicar'' is cognate with the English p ...

of Wilshamstead, later adding the

living Living or The Living may refer to: Common meanings *Life, a condition that distinguishes organisms from inorganic objects and dead organisms ** Living species, one that is not extinct *Personal life, the course of an individual human's life * ...

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. He died on 18 July 1745, and was buried at Wilshamstead on 22 July.

Family

He married Elizabeth; they had two sons and four daughters.

References

;Attribution

Sources

''Philosophical Dictionary'', Retrieved 15 December, 2010
*D. D. Raphael, ''British Moralists'' (Hackett, 1990)
John Gay
in ''Encyclopædia Britannica''. Retrieved from Encyclopædia Britannica Online 15 December 2010 {{DEFAULTSORT:Gay, John 1699 births 1745 deaths People educated at Blundell's School Alumni of Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge 18th-century English philosophers English Christian theologians 18th-century English Anglican priests English male non-fiction writers