land ' s ▁re but tal ▁of ▁Hob bes ▁The ▁English ▁cler ic ▁Richard ▁C umber land ▁wrote ▁a ▁length y ▁and ▁influ ential ▁attack ▁on ▁Hob bes ' s ▁dep iction ▁of ▁individual ▁self - inter est ▁as ▁the ▁essential ▁feature ▁of ▁human ▁motiv ation . ▁Histor ian ▁Kn ud ▁Ha ak ons sen ▁has ▁noted ▁that ▁in ▁the ▁eigh teenth ▁century , ▁C umber land ▁was ▁commonly ▁placed ▁alongside ▁Al ber ico ▁Gent ili , ▁Hugo ▁Gro ti us ▁and ▁Samuel ▁P uf endorf ▁" in ▁the ▁tri um vir ate ▁of ▁sevent e enth - century ▁found ers ▁of ▁the ▁' mod ern ' ▁school ▁of ▁natural ▁law ." ▁The ▁eigh teenth - century ▁philosoph ers ▁Sh aft es bury ▁and ▁H ut ches on ▁" w ere ▁obviously ▁inspired ▁in ▁part ▁by ▁C umber land ." ▁Histor ian ▁Jon ▁Park in ▁like wise ▁describes ▁C umber land ' s ▁work ▁as ▁" one ▁of ▁the ▁most ▁important ▁works ▁of ▁eth ical ▁and ▁political ▁theory ▁of ▁the ▁sevent e enth ▁century ." ▁Park in ▁obser ves ▁that ▁much ▁of ▁C umber land ' s ▁material ▁" is ▁derived ▁from ▁Roman ▁Sto ic ism , ▁particularly ▁from ▁the ▁work ▁of ▁Cic ero , ▁as ▁" C umber land ▁deliber ately ▁cast ▁his ▁eng agement ▁with ▁Hob bes ▁in ▁the ▁m ould ▁of ▁Cic ero ' s ▁debate ▁between ▁the ▁Sto ics , ▁who ▁believed ▁that ▁nature ▁could ▁provide ▁an ▁objective ▁mor ality , ▁and ▁Ep ic ure ans , ▁who ▁argued