Western Philosophy

JOHN COTTINGHAM is Professor Emeritus of Philosophy at the University of Reading, and an Honorary Fellow of St John’s College, Oxford University. He is the author of numerous books including Descartes, The Rationalists, On the Meaning of Life, and In Search of the Soul. He is co-translator of The Philosophical Writings of Descartes, and has published numerous articles on the history of philosophy, moral philosophy, and the philosophy of religion. Professor Cottingham is former Chairman of the British Society for the History of Philosophy and President of the British Society for the Philosophy of Religion, and was for many years editor of Ratio, the international journal of analytic philosophy.

• Preface xvAcknowledgements xxiGuidance for Readers and Format of the Volume xxviiiIntroductory Essay: How to Read a Philosophical Text and How to Write about It xxxiPart I Knowledge and Certainty 11 Innate Knowledge Plato, Meno 32 Knowledge versus Opinion Plato, Republic 123 Demonstrative Knowledge and Its Starting points Aristotle, Posterior Analytics 194 New Foundations for Knowledge René Descartes, Meditations 225 The Senses as the Basis of Knowledge John Locke, Essay Concerning Human Understanding 286 Innate Knowledge Defended Gottfried Leibniz, New Essays on Human Understanding 347 Scepticism versus Human Nature David Hume, Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding 398 Experience and Understanding Immanuel Kant, Critique of Pure Reason 449 From Sense-certainty to Self-consciousness Georg Hegel, Phenomenology of Spirit 4810 Beliefs Judged by Their Practical Effects William James, What Pragmatism Means 5411 Against Scepticism G. E. Moore, A Defence of Common Sense 6112 Does Empirical Knowledge Have a Foundation? Wilfrid Sellars, The Myth of the Given 68Part II Being and Reality 741 The Allegory of the Cave Plato, Republic 762 Individual Substance Aristotle, Categories 833 Supreme Being and Created Things René Descartes, Principles of Philosophy 874 Qualities and Ideas John Locke, Essay Concerning Human Understanding 945 Substance, Life and Activity Gottfried Leibniz, New System 996 Nothing Outside the Mind George Berkeley, Principles of Human Knowledge 105George Berkeley, Principles of Human Knowledge 1057 The Limits of Metaphysical Speculation David Hume, Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding 1118 Metaphysics, Old and New Immanuel Kant, Prolegomena 1179 Reality as Flux Alfred Whitehead, Process and Reality, and Science and the Modern World 125  10 Being and Involvement Martin Heidegger, Being and Time 13111 The End of Metaphysics? Rudolf Carnap, The Elimination of Metaphysics 13812 The Problem of Ontology W. V. O. Quine, On What There Is 144Part III Language and Meaning 1501 The Meanings of Words Plato, Cratylus 1522 Language and Its Acquisition Augustine, Confessions 1603 Thought, Language and Its Components William of Ockham, Writings on Logic 1624 Language, Reason and Animal Utterance René Descartes, Discourse on the Method 1665 Abstract General Ideas John Locke, Essay Concerning Human Understanding 1696 Particular Ideas and General Meaning George Berkeley, Principles of Human Knowledge 1737 Denotation versus Connotation John Stuart Mill, A System of Logic 1788 Names and Their Meaning Gottlob Frege, Sense and Reference 1839 Definite and Indefinite Descriptions Bertrand Russell, Introduction to Mathematical Philosophy 18810 Meaning and Use Ludwig Wittgenstein, The Blue and Brown Books 19411 Non-descriptive Uses of Language J. L. Austin, Performative Utterances 20212 How the Reference of Terms is Fixed Saul Kripke, Naming and Necessity 207Part IV Mind and Body 214 1 The Immortal Soul Plato, Phaedo 2162 Soul and Body, Form and Matter Aristotle, De Anima 2233 The Human Soul Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologiae 2284 The Non-material Mind or Soul and Its Relation to the Body René Descartes, Discourse and Meditations 2365 The Identity of Mind and Body Benedict Spinoza, Ethics 2426 Mind–Body Correlations Nicolas Malebranche, Dialogues on Metaphysics 2467 Body and Mind as Manifestations of Will Arthur Schopenhauer, The World as Will and Idea 2528 The Problem of Other Minds John Stuart Mill, An Examination of Sir William Hamilton’s Philosophy 2579 The Hallmarks of Mental Phenomena Franz Brentano, Psychology from an Empirical Standpoint 26310 The Myth of the ‘Ghost in the Machine’ Gilbert Ryle, The Concept of Mind 27011 Mental States as Functional States Hilary Putnam, Psychological Predicates 27512 The Subjective Dimension of Consciousness Thomas Nagel, What is it Like to be a Bat? 283Part V The Self and Freedom 290(a) The Self1 The Self and Consciousness John Locke, Essay Concerning Human Understanding 2922 The Self as Primitive Concept Joseph Butler, Of Personal Identity 2983 The Self as Bundle David Hume, A Treatise of Human Nature 3034 The Partly Hidden Self Sigmund Freud, Introductory Lectures on Psychoanalysis 3095 Liberation from the Self Derek Parfit, Reasons and Persons 3156 Selfhood and Narrative Understanding Charles Taylor, Sources of the Self 322(b) Freedom7 Human Freedom and Divine Providence Augustine, The City of God 3288 Freedom to Do What We Want Thomas Hobbes, Liberty, Necessity and Chance 3339 Free Will as the Power of Rational Agency Thomas Reid, Essays on the Active Powers of Man 33910 Absolute Determinism Pierre-Simon de Laplace, Philosophical Essay on Probability 34611 Condemned to Be Free Jean-Paul Sartre, Being and Nothingness 34912 Freedom, Responsibility and the Ability to Do Otherwise Harry G. Frankfurt, Alternate Possibilities and Moral Responsibility 355Part VI God and Religion 363 1 God Cannot Be Thought Not to Exist Anselm of Canterbury, Proslogion 3652 The Five Proofs of God Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologiae 3683 God as Source of My Idea of the Infinite René Descartes, Meditations 3724 God’s Existence Derived from His Nature or Essence René Descartes, Meditations 3785 The Wager Blaise Pascal, Pensées 3826 The Problem of Evil Gottfried Leibniz, Theodicy 3867 The Argument from Design David Hume, Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion 3928 Against Miracles David Hume, Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding 3989 Faith and Subjectivity Søren Kierkegaard, Concluding Unscientific Postscript 40510 Reason, Passion and the Religious Hypothesis William James, The Will to Believe 41211 The Meaning of Religious Language John Wisdom, Gods 41812 Many Paths to the Same Ultimate Reality? John Hick, Problems of Religious Pluralism 425Part VII Science and Method 4321 Four Types of Explanation Aristotle, Physics 4342 Experimental Methods and True Causes Francis Bacon, Novum Organum 4373 Mathematical Science and the Control of Nature René Descartes, Discourse on the Method 4444 The Limits of Scientific Explanation George Berkeley, On Motion 4505 The Problem of Induction David Hume, Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding 4566 The Relation Between Cause and Effect David Hume, Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding 4627 Causality and our Experience of Events Immanuel Kant, Critique of Pure Reason 4688 The Uniformity of Nature John Stuart Mill, System of Logic 4739 Science and Falsifiability Karl Popper, Conjectures and Refutations 47910 How Explaining Works Carl G. Hempel, Explanation in Science and History 48611 Scientific Realism Versus Instrumentalism Grover Maxwell, The Ontological Status of Theoretical Entities 49612 Change and Crisis in Science Thomas Kuhn, The Structure of Scientific Revolutions 503Part VIII Morality and the Good Life 5101 Morality and Happiness Plato, Republic 5122 Ethical Virtue Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics 5183 Morality and Natural Law Aquinas, Summa Theologiae 5224 Virtue, Reason and the Passions Benedict Spinoza, Ethics 5285 Human Feeling as the Source of Ethics David Hume, Enquiry Concerning the Principles of Morals 5336 Duty and Reason as the Ultimate Principle Immanuel Kant, Groundwork of the Metaphysic of Morals 5407 Happiness as the Foundation of Morality John Stuart Mill, Utilitarianism 5468 Utility and Common-sense Morality Henry Sidgwick, Methods of Ethics 5529 Against Conventional Morality Friedrich Nietzsche, Beyond Good and Evil 55910 Duty and Intuition W. D. Ross, The Right and the Good 56511 Ethics as Rooted in History and Culture Alasdair MacIntyre, After Virtue 57112 Could Ethics Be Objective? Bernard Williams, Ethics and the Limits of Philosophy 577Part IX Problems in Ethics 5831 Inequality, Freedom and Slavery Aristotle, Politics 5852 War and Justice Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologiae 5903 Taking One’s Own Life David Hume, On Suicide 5934 Gender, Liberty and Equality Mary Wollstonecraft, A Vindication of the Rights of Women 5995 Partiality and Favouritism William Godwin, Enquiry Concerning Political Justice 6046 The Status of Non-human Animals Immanuel Kant, Lectures on Ethics 6087 The Purpose of Punishment Jeremy Bentham, Principles of Morals and Legislation 6118 Our Relationship to the Environment Aldo Leopold, The Land Ethic 6189 Abortion and Rights Judith Jarvis Thomson, A Defense of Abortion, and Patrick Lee & Robert P. George, The Wrong of Abortion 62410 The Relief of Global Suffering Peter Singer, Famine, Affluence and Morality 63211 Medical Ethics and the Termination of Life James Rachels, Active and Passive Euthanasia 63812 Cloning, Sexual Reproduction and Genetic Engineering Leon R. Kass, The Wisdom of Repugnance 644Part X Authority and the State 6541 Our Obligation to Respect the Laws of the State Plato, Crito 6562 The Just Ruler Thomas Aquinas, On Princely Government 6613 Power and Control Niccolò Machiavelli, The Prince 6654 Sovereignty and Security Thomas Hobbes, Leviathan 6725 Consent and Political Obligation John Locke, Second Treatise of Civil Government 6786 Against Contractarianism David Hume, Of the Original Contract 6847 Society and the Individual Jean-Jacques Rousseau, The Social Contract 6908 The Unified State – From Individual Desire to Rational Self-determination Georg Hegel, The Philosophy of Right 6979 Property, Labour and Alienation Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, The German Ideology 70310 The Limits of Majority Rule John Stuart Mill, On Liberty 71011 Rational Choice and Fairness John Rawls, A Theory of Justice 71612 The Minimal State Robert Nozick, Anarchy, State and Utopia 723Part XI Beauty and Art 7311 Art and Imitation Plato, Republic 7332 The Nature and Function of Dramatic Art Aristotle, Poetics 7393 The Idea of Beauty Francis Hutcheson, Inquiry Concerning Beauty, Order, Harmony, Design 7454 Aesthetic Appreciation David Hume, Of the Standard of Taste 7505 The Concept of the Beautiful Immanuel Kant, Critique of Judgement 7576 The Metaphysics of Beauty Arthur Schopenhauer, On Aesthetics 7637 The Two Faces of Art Friedrich Nietzsche, The Birth of Tragedy 7698 The Value of Art Leo Tolstoy, What Is Art? 7769 Imagination and Art Jean-Paul Sartre, The Psychology of Imagination 78110 What Is Aesthetics? Ludwig Wittgenstein, Lectures on Aesthetics 78811 The Meaning of a Literary Work W. K. Wimsatt Jr. and M. C. Beardsley, The Intentional Fallacy 79312 The Basis of Judgements of Taste Frank Sibley, Aesthetic Concepts 801Part XII Human Life and Its Meaning 8081 How to Accept Reality and Avoid Fear Lucretius, On the Nature of the Universe 8102 Life Guided by Stoic Philosophy Seneca, Moral Letters 8143 Meaning through Service to Others Augustine, Confessions 8184 Contentment with the Human Lot Michel de Montaigne, On Experience 8215 The Human Condition, Wretched yet Redeemable Blaise Pascal, Pensées 8266 Human Life as a Meaningless Struggle Arthur Schopenhauer, On the Vanity of Existence 8317 The Death of God and the Ascendancy of the Will Friedrich Nietzsche, Thus Spake Zarathustra 8368 Idealism in a Godless Universe Bertrand Russell, A Free Man’s Worship 8419 Futility and Defiance Albert Camus, The Myth of Sisyphus 84810 Involvement versus Detachment Thomas Nagel, The Absurd 85111 Religious Belief as Necessary for Meaning William Lane Craig, The Absurdity of Life without God 86112 Seeing Our Lives as Part of the Process Robert Nozick, Philosophy’s Life 868Background Reading and Reference 873Notes on the Philosophers 879Index 898