R.D. Gallie – författare

This book is meant to serve as an introduction to the philosophy of Thomas Reid by way of a study of certain themes central to that philosophy as we find it expounded in his extensive and influential published writings. The choice of these themes inevitably reflects philosophical interests of the author of this book to some extent but a main consideration behind their selection is that they are extensively treated by Reid in response to treatments by certain of his predecessors in an identifiable tradition called by Yolton 'The Way ofIdeas'. My interest in Reid's philosophy was first awakened by the brilliant writings of A.N. Prior, and in particular by Part II of his posthumous 'Objects of Thought' called 'What we think about' together with his suggestion that Reid was a precursor of Mill on the signification of proper names. It is my hope that the standard of exegesis and of discussion throughout the book, and especially in the case of these topics, is a not unworthy tribute to that thinker.

A critical exposition of Reid's philosophical anatomy of the self, his moral philosophy and his aesthetics, this text is aimed at an advanced undergraduate and graduate readership. One main purpose of the book is to explore Reid's accounts of beauty, of sublimity and aesthetic assessment, compared with his moral philosophy and philosophy of action, if only because of the very considerable impact of his aesthetic thought in 19th-century France. Notoriously Reid presents his accounts of moral and aesthetic judgment as the fruits of a sense of morals and of taste. Accordingly his position on the nature of a sense needs to be carefully considered, as well as his position on the origin of conceptions needed for the deployment of a sense. The Lehrer-Smith III computational computer model of Reidian faculties is assessed at some length as a serious contribution to this task, especially since its employment would seem to presuppose positions at odds with crucial components in Reid's account of the self as thinker, decision-maker and moral agent exercising both active and speculative power.

This book is a critical exposition of Reid's philosophical anatomy of the self, his moral philosophy and his aesthetics, and is aimed at an advanced undergraduate and graduate readership. Those familiar with Reid scholarship will be only too aware of how little attention has been paid of late to Reid's accounts of beauty, of sublimity and aesthetic assessment, compared with his moral philosophy and philosophy of action. One main purpose of this book is to help remedy this imbalance, if only because of the very considerable impact of Reid's aesthetic thought in nineteenth century France. Notoriously Reid presents his accounts of moral and aesthetic judgment as the fruits of a sense of morals and of taste. Accordingly his position on the nature of a sense needs to be carefully considered, as well as his position on the origin of conceptions needed for the deployment of a sense.The Lehrer-Smith III computational computer model of Reidian faculties is assessed at some length as a serious contribution to this task, especially since its employment would seem to presuppose positions at odds with crucial components in Reid's account, which is also presented in the book, of the self as thinker, decision-maker and moral agent exercising both active and speculative power.