Philosophic Classics: Volume III: Modern Philosophy - Softcover

Baird, Forrest

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0130485586 ISBN 13: 9780130485588

Publisher: Routledge, 2002

Synopsis

<P><B></B>This anthology of readings in Modern Western philosophy (16th through 18th centuries) features the best translations of texts-<I>complete works</I> or <I>complete sections of works</I> which are readily accessible to the reader while still being faithful to the original work. It includes an introduction to each philosopher, an abundance of drawings, diagrams, and photographs, as well as a timeline to help the reader understand the context of when these works were written. <B>KEY TOPICS:</B> This anthology includes the key writings of the British Empiricists and Continental Rationalists, along with the work of Kant. <B>MARKET:</B> For readers interested in owning a collection of classic works by Modern Western philosophers.  </P>

About this title

About the Author

Forrest E. Baird is Professor and Chair of Philosophy & Religion at Whitworth College, Spokane, Washington.

From the Back Cover

Forrest Baird's revisions of Philosophic Classics, Prentice Hall's long-standing philosophy series, continue the tradition begun in 1961, to provide generations of students with anthologies of high quality in the history of Western philosophy. Using the complete works or, where appropriate, complete sections of works, this series allows philosophers to speak directly to students.

This series includes texts central to the thinker's own philosophy, using the best available translations. Introductions to each reading are divided into three sections:

• Biographical – Provides a glimpse into the life of the philosopher;
• Philosophical – Presents a résumé of the philosopher's thought; and
• Bibliographical – Offers suggestions for further reading.

In addition, drawings, photographs, and time lines help put the readings into context. In short, every effort has been made to help the reader understand primary source materials.

Philosophic Classics is available in the following versions:

• Volume I: Ancient Philosophy Fourth Edition, c2003 (0-13-048556-X)
• Volume II: Medieval Philosophy, Fourth Edition, c2003 (0-13-048557-8)
• Volume III: Modern Philosophy, Fourth Edition, c2003 (0-13-048558-6)
• Volume IV: Nineteenth-Century Philosophy; Third Edition, c2003 (0-13-048550-0)
• Volume V: Twentieth-Century Philosophy Third Edition, c2003 (013-048563-2)
• From Plato to Derrida, Combined Edition, Fourth Edition, c2003 (0-13-048561-6)

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

To a large extent, modern philosophy begins with a rejection of tradition. While medieval philosophers such as Thomas Aquinas took great pains to incorporate and reconcile ancient writings, smoothing over any apparent contradictions, early modern philosophers such as Francis Bacon and René Descartes encouraged their readers to simply make a clean sweep of the past and start over. Previous thinkers had been deluded by "idols" or mistakes in thinking or had relied too heavily on authority. In the modern age, the wisdom of the past was to be discarded as error-prone. As Descartes observed,

Some years ago I was struck by the large number of falsehoods that I had accepted
as true in my childhood, and by the highly doubtful nature of the whole edifice that
I had subsequently based on them. I realized that it was necessary, once in the
course of my life, to demolish everything completely and start again right from the
foundations if I wanted to establish anything at all in the sciences that was stable
and likely to last.

This quest to establish a stable intellectual foundation on which to build something "likely to last" characterized seventeenth- and eighteenth-century European philosophy. British Empiricists, such as Bacon, Thomas Hobbes, John Locke, David Hume, and Thomas Reid, found such a foundation in sensory experience and developed their thought on that basis. On the other hand, the Continental Rationalists, philosophers such as Descartes, Baruch Spinoza, and Gottfried Leibniz, thought the senses inadequate for such a task. They considered reason superior to experience and sought to establish their philosophies on the basis of more certain principles. Immanuel Kant, the greatest of the modern philosophers, sought to combine these two approaches and in so doing developed a uniquely influential system of philosophy.

This volume in the Philosophic Classics series includes the key writings of the British Empiricists and Continental Rationalists, along with the work of Kant. In choosing texts for this volume, I have tried wherever possible to follow three principles: (1) to use complete works or, where more appropriate, complete sections of works (2) in clear translations (3) of texts central to the thinker's philosophy or widely accepted as part of the "canon." To make the works more accessible to students, most footnotes treating textual matters (variant readings, etc.) have been omitted and all Greek words have beep transliterated and put in angle brackets. In addition, each thinker is introduced by a brief essay composed of three sections: (1) biographical (a glimpse of the life), (2) philosophical (a résumé of the philosopher's thought), and (3) bibliographical (suggestions for further reading).

This edition now includes a brief selection from Jean-Jacques Rousseau as well as additional material from John Locke's Essay Concerning Human Understanding and a new translation of René Descartes's Meditations. To make room for these changes, I have cut a portion of Immanuel Kant's Critique of Pure Reason and made a number of other small changes.

Those who use this volume in a one-term course in modern philosophy will notice more material here than can easily fit a normal semester. But this embarrassment of riches gives teachers some choice and, for those who offer the same course year after year, an opportunity to change the menu.

Edition details

• Publisher: Routledge
• Publication date: 2002
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0130485586
• ISBN 13: 9780130485588
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 4
• Number of pages: 646