ABSTRACT
This chapter describes a natural process toward moral maturation. It then discusses Scottish Enlightenment philosopher Francis Hutcheson's theory of the cultivated man, or more specifically, his account of the developmental progression and process involved in becoming a cultivated man. Hutcheson makes three important claims about human nature that make possible the natural development of moral maturity. They are the importance of self-love, a naturally occurring instinct of benevolence and a moral sense faculty wherein moral approvals and disapprovals are felt. These naturally occurring aspects of human nature make human beings capable of making moral determinations. The chapter also examines Joseph Butler's descriptions of reflection and conscience, which are required to cultivate mature morality. It also offers an account of moral maturity that explains more fully the progression of development through social relationships and how conscience enhances moral sensitivity.
