Description
Book SynopsisPart of the
Blackwell Readings in the History of Philosophy series, this survey of late modern philosophy focuses on the key texts and philosophers of the period whose beliefs changed the course of western thought.
-
- Gathers together the key texts from the most significant and influential philosophers of the late modern era to provide a thorough introduction to the period.
- Features the writings of Locke, Berkeley, Hume, Leibniz, Kant, Rousseau, Bentham and other leading thinkers.
- Examines such topics as empiricism, rationalism, and the existence of God.
- Readings are accompanied by expert commentary from the editors, who are leading scholars in the field.
Trade Review“This is an excellent anthology with selections that are shrewdly chosen and insightfully introduced, including several in ethics that are unusual but quite important, such as Adam Smith, Richard Price, and Mary Wollstonecraft.”
Stephen Darwall, University of Michigan “A rich and wisely chosen collection of key eighteenth-century texts, distinctive in covering not only epistemology and metaphysics, but moral and political philosophy.” Kenneth P. Winkler, Wellesley College
Table of ContentsAcknowledgments vii
General Introduction 1
Part I Empiricism 17
Introduction
1 John Locke 21
Essay concerning Human Understanding
2 George Berkeley 52
Three Dialogues between Hylas and Philonous in Opposition to Sceptics and Atheists
3 David Hume 75
An Enquiry concerning Human Understanding
4 David Hume 100
A Treatise of Human Nature
Part II Critics of Empiricism 113
Introduction
5 Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz 117
New Essays concerning Human Understanding
6 Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz and Samuel Clarke 123
The Leibniz–Clarke Correspondence
7 Thomas Reid 133
An Inquiry into the Human Mind on the Principles of Common Sense
Part III Kant’s Critique of Rationalism and Empiricism 141
Introduction
8 Immanuel Kant 145
Prolegomena to Any Future Metaphysics
Part IV Arguments for the Existence of God 185
Introduction
9 Samuel Clarke 189
A Demonstration of the Being and Attributes of God
10 William Paley 193
Natural Theology
11 David Hume 199
Dialogues concerning Natural Religion
12 Immanuel Kant 208
Critique of Pure Reason
Part V Political Philosophy 217
Introduction
13 John Locke 221
Second Treatise on Government
14 David Hume 234
“Of the Original Contract”
15 Jean-Jacques Rousseau 240
On the Social Contract
Part VI Moral Philosophy 257
Introduction
16 Samuel Clarke 261
Discourse concerning the Unchangeable Obligations of Natural Religion
17 David Hume 266
A Treatise of Human Nature
18 Richard Price 294
A Review of the Principal Questions in Morals
19 Adam Smith 303
The Theory of Moral Sentiments
20 Immanuel Kant 315
Lectures on Ethics
21 Immanuel Kant 324
Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals
22 Thomas Reid 329
Essays on the Active Powers of the Human Mind
23 Jeremy Bentham 339
An Introduction to the Principles of Morals and Legislation
24 Mary Wollstonecraft 350
A Vindication of the Rights of Woman
Suggestions for Further Reading 359
Index 363
