The Procedure, Extent, and Limits of Human Understanding.

[Browne, Peter]

Published by Printed for William Innys, at the West End of St. Paul's., 1729

About this Item

Second edition, with corrections and amendments. ESTC T97622, with matching mispaginations. About half of spine label lost, spine and corners rubbed, bookplate (David Smyth of Methuen) and tiny ink stamp on verso of title page. 1729 Full-Leather. [vi], 477, [3] pp. Original full calf with blind-stamped rules and decorations, morocco spine label with gilt titles and double rules. A pseudonymous work by Peter Browne, this is a rebuttal of John Locke's An Essay Concerning Human Understanding. Browne also wrote a 1733 work defending divine analogy against accusations that it leads to atheism, a view posed in George Berkeley's Alciphron. Browne was a bishop in the Church of Ireland educated at Trinity College. While studying there "he officiated as lecturer at St Bride's Church, near the college, and in 1697 he was appointed rector of the newly created parish of St Mary. His talents within the university were recognized first by his being chosen to preach at the celebration of its centenary and then to refute the deist John Toland, whose Christianity not Mysterious had outraged the orthodox. Archbishop Francis Marsh of Dublin urged Browne to restate traditional teaching on revelation, which he did in 1697 with A Letter in Answer to a Book Entitled Christianity not Mysterious; Browne was thought by some to have marred his case with repetition and personal attacks on his opponent. He was also active within Dublin in the campaign to reform manners. Reward for his energetic services came with his selection as provost of Trinity in 1699," though his later appointment to the bishopric led to controversy over his supposed support for the Jacobites. "He continued to write on theological and philosophical questions. In order to refute the Arians and Socinians he argued that it was possible by analogy to apprehend God. His arguments were expounded copiously in The Procedure, Extent and Limits of the Human Understanding (1728) and Things Divine and Supernatural Conceived by Analogy (1732). These publications, modifying the earlier notions of Locke and Archbishop William King, drew dismissive ripostes from his former pupil George Berkeley, and were thought to have widened divisions among the orthodox rather than confuting the heterodox. In addition to two topical sermons, published during his lifetime (1698 and 1716), two volumes of Browne's sermons were published posthumously in 1749. These treated fundamentals of faith. One former pupil revered Browne as an exemplar in preaching and practical charity; Patrick Delany contended that he had established 'true taste both in classical and sacred learning' (P. Delany, Eighteen Discourses and Dissertations upon Various Very Important and Interesting Subjects, 1766, xiii)." - Oxford Dictionary of National Biography.

Seller Inventory # 2329642

Bibliographic Details

• Title: The Procedure, Extent, and Limits of Human Understanding.
• Publisher: Printed for William Innys, at the West End of St. Paul's.
• Publication Date: 1729
• Binding: Full-Leather
• Edition: Second Edition.
• Condition: Very Good
• Dust Jacket Condition: No Jacket
• Weight: 24 ounces