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Richard Cumberland
(15 Jul 1631 - 9 Oct 1718)
English philosopher who was Bishop of Peterborough from 1691. He is remembered for his work, De legibus naturae (On Natural Laws, 1672), in which he challenged the egoist ideas of Thomas Hobbes, instead an ethical theory based on the principle of universal benevolence. Because he promoted this viewpoint of pursuing the greatest good, he is held to be the founder of English philosophy of utilitarianism.
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Science Quotes by Richard Cumberland (1 quote)
All other men, being born of woman, have a navel, by reason of the umbilical vessels inserted into it, which from the placenta carry nourishment to children in the womb of their mothers; but it could not be so with our first parents. It cannot be believed that God gave them navels which would have been altogether useless.
— Richard Cumberland
A Treatise of Laws of Nature (1727).
In science it often happens that scientists say, 'You know that's a really good argument; my position is mistaken,' and then they would actually change their minds and you never hear that old view from them again. They really do it. It doesn't happen as often as it should, because scientists are human and change is sometimes painful. But it happens every day. I cannot recall the last time something like that happened in politics or religion.
(1987) -- 
