Essays on the intellectual powers of man

Author(s)

Bibliographic Information

Essays on the intellectual powers of man

Thomas Reid ; text edited by Derek R. Brookes ; annotations by Derek R. Brookes and Knud Haakonssen ; introduction by Knud Haakonssen

(The Edinburgh edition of Thomas Reid / series editor, Knud Haakonssen, v. 3)

Pennsylvania State University Press, 2002

A critical ed

  • : cloth

Available at  / 2 libraries

Search this Book/Journal

Note

"... based a copy of the only edition ... Edinburgh: Printed for John Bell, Parliament Square, and G.G.J. & J. Robinson, London. M, DCC, LXXXV, ..."--Note on the text

"First published in the United Kingdom by Edinburgh University Press"--T.p. verso

Includes indexes

Description and Table of Contents

Description

Thomas Reid (1710-1796) is increasingly seen as a philosopher of lasting importance and as a central figure in the Scottish Enlightenment. Intellectual Powers is his greatest work. It covers far more philosophical ground than the earlier, more popular Inquiry. Intellectual Powers and its companion volume, Essays on the Active Powers of Man, constitute the fullest, most original presentation of the philosophy of Common Sense. In this work Reid provides acutely critical discussions of an impressive array of thinkers but especially of David Hume. In Reid's view, Hume had driven a deep tendency in modern philosophy to its ultimate conclusion by creating a phantom-world of "ideas" that spring from objects of observation. On this account, the self is a conglomeration of perceived ideas; the will, as the source of action, is nothing but the balance of passionate impulses. Reid's Common Sense philosophy responds to these problems by suggesting that skeptics such as Hume unavoidably affirm what they purport to deny-namely, the existence of a stable external world, of other minds, of the continuity of their own minds, and of their own and other people's ability to ascribe and accept responsibility for actions. We can understand all of these things by proper empirical observation and philosophical analysis of the activity of the mind. Reid's major positive contribution to philosophy is a detailed account of the various innate powers of the mind. This is the only properly established text. It is accompanied by Reid's manuscript lectures on the nature and immortality of the soul as well as helpful editorial annotations and an introduction, making it useful to a wide variety of readers.

Table of Contents

Contents Preface vi Introduction ix Note on the Text xiii 1. CRITICAL TEXT 1 Essays on the Intellectual Powers of Man Dedication Contents Preface Essay I Preliminary Essay II Of the Powers we have by means of our External Senses Essay III Of Memory Essay IV Of Conception Essay V Of Abstraction Essay VI Of Judgment Essay VII Of Reasoning Essay VIII Of Taste 2. "Three Lectures on the Nature and Duration of the Soul'' Register of Editions Index

by "Nielsen BookData"

Related Books: 1-1 of 1

Details

  • NCID
    BA8231007X
  • ISBN
    • 0271022361
  • LCCN
    2002022227
  • Country Code
    us
  • Title Language Code
    eng
  • Text Language Code
    eng
  • Place of Publication
    University Park, Pa.
  • Pages/Volumes
    xiv, 651 p.
  • Size
    24 cm
  • Classification
  • Subject Headings
  • Parent Bibliography ID
Page Top