Under a minimum of assumptions, we develop in generality the basic
theory of universal algebra in a symmetric monoidal closed category
$V$ with respect to a specified system of arities $j:J
\hookrightarrow V$. Lawvere's notion of algebraic theory
generalizes to this context, resulting in the notion of
single-sorted $V$-enriched $J$-cotensor theory, or
$J$-theory for short. For
suitable choices of $V$ and $J$, such $J$-theories include the
enriched algebraic theories of Borceux and Day, the enriched Lawvere
theories of Power, the equational theories of Linton's 1965 work, and
the $V$-theories of Dubuc, which are recovered by taking $J = V$
and correspond to arbitrary $V$-monads on $V$. We identify a modest
condition on $j$ that entails that the
$V$-category of $T$-algebras exists
and is monadic over $V$ for every $J$-theory $T$, even when $T$ is
not small and $V$ is neither complete nor cocomplete. We show that
$j$ satisfies this condition if and only if $j$ presents $V$ as a
free cocompletion of $J$ with respect to the weights for left Kan
extensions along $j$, and so we call such systems of arities
eleutheric. We show that $J$-theories for an eleutheric
system may be equivalently described as (i) monads in a certain
one-object bicategory of profunctors on $J$, and (ii) $V$-monads on
$V$ satisfying a certain condition. We prove a characterization
theorem for the categories of algebras of $J$-theories, considered as
$V$-categories $A$ equipped with a specified $V$-functor $A
\rightarrow V$.