An Inquiry Into The Human Mind: On The Principles Of Common Sense - Softcover

Thomas Reid

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0371651220 ISBN 13: 9780371651223

Publisher: HardPress, 2021

Synopsis

An Inquiry Into The Human Mind: On The Principles Of Common Sense by Thomas Reid. This eighteenth?century philosophical work defends common sense against radical scepticism and the traditions of idealism. Reid argues that knowledge begins from the mind’s own constitutional principles—the principles of common sense—which ground our beliefs about the external world, other minds, and causation. The book surveys the five senses, exploring how sensations function as signs that things exist and as indicators of distance, size, and quality. It critiques Descartes, Malebranche, Locke, Berkeley, and Hume, advocating a method of inquiry grounded in observation, experiment, and careful reflection, with emphasis on induction and the inductive principle. Reid contends that common sense cannot be overthrown by philosophical subtilities; belief in a material world arises from natural, universal dispositions and is reinforced by experience. The work helped lay the foundations for Scottish common?sense philosophy and continues to inform debates about perception, knowledge, and language, including the relationship between signs, signsified, and belief.

Edition details

• Publisher: HardPress
• Publication date: 2021
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0371651220
• ISBN 13: 9780371651223
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 504