The Theory of Moral Sentiments - Adam Smith [246]
Arundel, Thomas Howard, Earl of (1585-1646; also 4th Earl of Surrey and 1st Earl of Norfolk, and variously numbered as 21st or 14th or 2nd Earl of Arundel), English courtier and ambassador, chiefly remembered today as patron and collector of the arts and subject of portraits by Rubens and Van Dyck.
Attila (406 -453), king of the Huns from 434 until his death; his eastern and central European empire was a chief rival of the Roman Empire, but came to be regarded as a symbol of barbarism and brutal violence.
Augustine, Saint (354-430), Bishop of Hippo and one of the principal Doctors of the Church; his principal works include his autobiographical Confessions, which tells the story of his conversion, and City of God, which exercised a lasting influence on Western conceptions of human nature, sin, and divine redemption.
Augustus Caesar (Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus; 63 BC-AD 14), Roman emperor from 27 BC until his death.
Avaux, Claude de Mesmes, Comte d’ (1595-1650), French statesman and ambassador; among his achievements was his participation in the French delegation to Münster in 1648 that negotiated and ratified the treaty that established the Peace of Westphalia, ending the Thirty Years’ War.
Avidius Cassius (Gaius Avidius Cassius; ca. 130-175 AD), Roman consul, governor of Syria, and for three months acting Roman emperor in the east in the wake of a false report of the death of Marcus Aurelius.
Barbeyrac, Jean (1674-1744), French scholar of natural jurisprudence, chiefly known for his French translations of Latin works by Grotius and Pufendorf, which featured extensive and essential textual notes and commentaries.
Berkeley, George (1685-1753), Irish philosopher and clergyman, remembered today for his challenges to materialism and atheism (Treatise Concerning the Principles of Human Knowledge, 1710); for Smith he is a theorist of vision (Essay Towards a New Theory of Vision, 1709), an opponent of Mandeville (Alciphron, 1732), and a proponent of Irish economic reform (The Querist, 1735-37).
Birch, Thomas (1705-1766), historian and secretary to the Royal Society from 1752 to 1765, and recipient of a presentation copy of the first edition of TMS; among the many projects he edited was The Heads of Illustrious Persons of Great Britain (1743, with second volume in 1752), which featured short biographical sketches and engraved portraits by Jacobus Houbraken and George Vertue.
Biron, Charles de Gontaut, first Duc de (1562-1602), French military commander under Henri IV, executed for treason stemming from his efforts to secure favors from French enemies abroad.
Boileau-Despréaux, Nicolas (1636-1711), French author, courtier, and member of the Académie Française; known for his translation of and commentary on Longinus, his contributions on behalf of the ancients to the Quarrel of the Ancients and the Moderns, his poetic epistles, and several satires.
Borgia, Cesare (1475-1507), Italian military and political leader whose grandiose ambitions and criminal methods were memorialized by Machiavelli.
Bristol, George Digby, second Earl of (1612-1677), English statesman and principal figure in the civil wars in which he was a royalist sympathizer and later the great rival of Clarendon.
Brutus (1) (Lucius Junius Brutus; 6th c. BC), honored by tradition as founder of the Roman Republic for having cast out the Tarquin kings following the rape and suicide of Lucretia in 509 BC; as consul he presided over the indictment and execution of his two sons for their participation in the conspiracy to restore the Tarquins.
Brutus (2) (Marcus Junius Brutus; 85-42 BC), Roman politician who played a chief role in the conspiracy to murder Julius Caesar in 44 BC and variously regarded by posterity as a republican hero or ambitious regicide.
Buffier, Claude (1661-1737), French Jesuit and philosopher and author of several works on metaphysics, epistemology, and language; his chief work, Treatise on First Truths (1717), set forth a theory of self-knowledge