Leibniz: New Essays on Human Understanding PDF Download

Author: Gottfried Wilhelm Freiherr von Leibniz
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 9780521576604
Category : Mathematics
Languages : en
Pages : 528

View

Book Description
In the New Essays on Human Understanding, Leibniz argues chapter by chapter with John Locke's Essay Concerning Human Understanding, challenging his views about knowledge, personal identity, God, morality, mind and matter, nature versus nurture, logic and language, and a host of other topics. The work is a series of sharp, deep discussions by one great philosopher of the work of another. Leibniz's references to his contemporaries and his discussions of the ideas and institutions of the age make this a fascinating and valuable document in the history of ideas. The work was originally written in French, and the version by Peter Remnant and Jonathan Bennett, based on the only reliable French edition (published in 1962), first appeared in 1981 and has become the standard English translation. It has been thoroughly revised for this series and provided with a new and longer introduction, a chronology on Leibniz's life and career and a guide to further reading.

Author: John Dewey
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Knowledge, Theory of
Languages : en
Pages : 302

View

Book Description
New Essays on Human Understanding is a chapter-by-chapter rebuttal by Gottfried Leibniz of John Locke's major work, An Essay Concerning Human Understanding. It was finished in 1704 but Locke's death was the cause alleged by Leibniz to withhold its publication. The book appeared some sixty years later. Like many philosophical works of the time, it is written in dialogue form. The two speakers in the book are Theophilus, who represents the views of Leibniz, and Philalethes, who represents those of Locke. The famous rebuttal to the empiricist thesis about the provenance of ideas appears at the beginning of Book II: "Nothing is in the mind without being first in the senses, except for the mind itself". All of Locke's major arguments against innate ideas are criticized at length by Leibniz, who defends an extreme view of innate cognition, according to which all thoughts and actions of the soul are innate. In addition to his discussion of innate ideas, Leibniz offers penetrating critiques of Locke's views on personal identity, free will, mind-body dualism, language, necessary truth, and Locke's attempted proof of the existence of God.

Author: David Hume
Publisher: Hackett Publishing
ISBN: 9780872202290
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 170

View

Book Description
A landmark of enlightenment though, HUme's An Enquiry Concerning Human understanding is accompanied here by two shorter works that shed light on it: A Letter from a Gentlemen to His Friend in Edinburgh, hume's response to those accusing him of atheism, of advocating extreme scepticism, and of undermining the foundations of morality; and his Abstract of A Treatise of HUman Nature, which anticipates discussions developed in the Enquiry. In his concise Introduction, Eric Steinberg explores the conditions that led to write the Enquiry and the work's important relationship to Book 1 of Hume's A Treatise of Human Nature.

Author: David Hume
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Knowledge, Theory of
Languages : en
Pages : 274

View

Book Description

Author: Gottfried Wilhelm Freiherr von Leibniz
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
ISBN:
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 328

View

Book Description
The Oxford Philosophical Texts series consists of authoritative teaching editions of canonical texts in the History of Philosophy from the ancient world down to modern times. Each volume, issued in a uniform and affordable paperback format, provides a clear, well laid out text together with acomprehensive introduction by a leading specialist, giving the student detailed critical guidance on the intellectual context of the work and the structure and philosophical importance of the main arguments. Endnotes are supplied to expand further on the arguments and explain unfamiliar referencesand terminology, and a full bibliography and index are also included. The series aims to build up a definitive corpus of key texts in the Western philosophical tradition, which will form a reliable and enduring resource for students and teachers alike. This volume contains Leibniz's most important texts, starting with the Discourse on Metaphysics (1686), which marks the beginning of maturity in Leibniz's ideas, and ending with the Monadology (1714), written in response to requests for a systematic, organized account of his overall philosophy. Inbetween fall other key works including the New System of Nature (1695), the Specimen of Dynamics (1695), Nature Itself (1698), and the Principles of Nature and Grace (1714). Also included in the volume are critical reactions to the Discourse and the New System by Leibniz's contemporaries, AntoineArnauld, Pierre Bayle, and Simon Foucher, together with Leibniz's responses. All the texts are newly translated into English for this edition, and each is preceded by a summary explaining its background, structure, and content. Also containing a substantial introduction, notes, and bibliography, the volume offers a comprehensive introduction to Leibniz's philosophy.

Author: Gottfried Wilhelm Freiherr von Leibniz
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Comprehension
Languages : en
Pages : 884

View

Book Description

Author: John Locke
Publisher: Penguin UK
ISBN: 0141956577
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 107

View

Book Description
John Locke was one of the greatest figures of the Enlightenment, whose assertion that reason is the key to knowledge changed the face of philosophy. These writings on thought, ideas, perception, truth and language are some of the most influential in the history of Western thought. Throughout history, some books have changed the world. They have transformed the way we see ourselves - and each other. They have inspired debate, dissent, war and revolution. They have enlightened, outraged, provoked and comforted. They have enriched lives - and destroyed them. Now Penguin brings you the works of the great thinkers, pioneers, radicals and visionaries whose ideas shook civilization and helped make us who we are.

Author: Lex Newman
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1139827235
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 18

View

Book Description
First published in 1689, John Locke's Essay Concerning Human Understanding is widely recognised as among the greatest works in the history of Western philosophy. The Essay puts forward a systematic empiricist theory of mind, detailing how all ideas and knowledge arise from sense experience. Locke was trained in mechanical philosophy and he crafted his account to be consistent with the best natural science of his day. The Essay was highly influential and its rendering of empiricism would become the standard for subsequent theorists. This Companion volume includes fifteen new essays from leading scholars. Covering the major themes of Locke's work, they explain his views while situating the ideas in the historical context of Locke's day and often clarifying their relationship to ongoing work in philosophy. Pitched to advanced undergraduates and graduate students, it is ideal for use in courses on early modern philosophy, British empiricism and John Locke.

Author: Elliot Samuel Paul
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0199836965
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 337

View

Book Description
Creativity pervades human life. It is the mark of individuality, the vehicle of self-expression, and the engine of progress in every human endeavor. It also raises a wealth of neglected and yet evocative philosophical questions. The Philosophy of Creativity takes up these questions and, in doing so, illustrates the value of interdisciplinary exchange.

Author: Noell Birondo
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
ISBN: 131531424X
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 218

View

Book Description
This collection sheds light on precisely how virtues and reasons are related to each other and what can be learned by exploring this relationship. The first section analyzes how the virtues may be related to, or linked with, normative reasons in ways that improve our understanding of what constitutes virtuous character and ethical agency. The second section explores the reasons moral agents have for cultivating the virtues of character and how the virtues impact moral responsiveness or development. The final section examines how reasons can be employed in understanding the nature of virtue, and how specific virtues, like modesty and practical wisdom, interact with reasons.