Herbert, Edward

(First Baron Herbert of Cherbury). Born Mar. 3,1583, in Eyton-on-Severn, Wales; died Aug. 20,1648, in London. English philosopher, poet, and political figure.

Herbert served as British ambassador to France between 1619 and 1624. During the Civil War he was an adherent of the parliamentary opposition. Herbert was the founder of English deism in the form of natural religion, the source of which he considered to lie not in discovery, but in the innate principle of reason. Herbert summed up the basic principles of natural religion in the following five points: there is a god; he must be worshipped; the best way to worship is through virtue and piety; crimes and transgressions must be atoned for through repentance; there are rewards and punishments in a life beyond the grave. Herbert’s moderate deism met with a sharp reaction from theologians. Herbert’s doctrine of cognition is based on his acknowledgement of innate ideas. Herbert’s views were criticized by J. Locke and P. Gassendi.