Modern Philosophy – From Descartes to Nietzsche: An Anthology

Modern Philosophy From Descartes to Nietzsche: An Anthology features a broad range of selections from important but seldom anthologized works in the philosophy of psychology, natural science, metaphysics, epistemology, morality, politics, and religion. Representative selections from Descartes′s work in physics, Berkeley′s commentary on morality, Kant′s political theory, and Mill′s analysis of religion to name just a few are placed alongside carefully chosen excerpts from some of their better–known works. The editors have selected these texts in way which places the modern philosophers in direct conversation with each other.

This volume provides an unparalleled offering of primary sources for anyone interested in the history of philosophy and modern political thought. When used alongside The Blackwell Guide to the Modern Philosophers (2001), these volumes provide students of modern philosophy with an ideal combination of primary sources and expert commentary.

Preface.

Acknowledgements..

Part I: René Descartes (1596 1650):.

Introduction..

1. The Treatise on Light.

Description of a New World (ch. 6).

The Laws of Nature of This New World (ch. 7).

2. Principles of Philosophy.

The Principles of Human Knowledge(Part 1).

3. The Passions of the Soul.

The Passions in General (Part 1).

Part II: Thomas Hobbes (1588 1679):.

Introduction..

4. Concerning Body (De Corpore).

Of Method (from Part 1, ch. 6).

5. The Citizen (De Cive).

Of the Causes and First Beginning of Civil Government (Part 2, ch. 5).

6. On Man (De Homine).

On Speech and Sciences (Bk XX).

On Appetite and Aversion, Pleasure and Displeasure and Their Causes (Bk XXI).

On Religion (Bk XIV).

Part III: Benedict de Spinoza (1632 77):.

Introduction..

7. Treatise on the Emendation of the Intellect.

On Method(sects 50 86).

8. Ethics.

On Human Freedom(Part 5).

9. Theological–Political Treatise.

Of the Foundations of a State (from ch. 16).

On Freedom of Thought and Speech (ch. 20).

Part IV: Nicolas Malebranche (1638 1715):.

Introduction..

10. The Search After Truth.

On the Nature of Ideas (Bk III, Part 2, chs 1 7).

11. Treatise on Nature and Grace.

On the General and Particular Wills (Illustration).

12. Dialogues on Metaphysics and on Religion.

Dialogue VI.

Part V: G. W. Leibniz (1646 1716):.

Introduction..

13. Meditations on Knowledge, Truth, and Ideas.

14. On Nature Itself.

15. The Theodicy.

A Vindication of God′s Justice (from the Appendix).

16. The Principles of Nature and of Grace, Based on Reason.

Part VI: John Locke (1632 1704):.

Introduction..

17. Essay concerning Human Understanding.

Of Ideas in General (Bk II, ch. 1, sects 1 5).

Of Simple Ideas (ch. 2, sects 1 3).

Of the Qualities and Powers of Bodies (ch. 8, sects 7 15).

Of Perception (ch. 9, sects 1 15).

Of Complex Ideas (ch. 12, sects 1 7).

Of the Extent of Human Knowledge (Bk IV, ch. 3, sects 1 6).

Of Our Knowledge of the Existence of a God (ch. 10, sects 1 6).

18. Of the Conduct of the Understanding.

Of Truth and Error (sections 42 44).

19. A Discourse of Miracles.

20. The Second Treatise of Government.

Of the Beginning of Political Societies (ch. 8).

Part VII: George Berkeley (1685 1753):.

Introduction..

21. An Essay Towards a New Theory of Vision.

On the Relation Between Objects of Sight and Touch (sects 121 48).

22. A Treatise Concerning the Principles of Human Knowledge.

Argument Against the Existence of Material Substance (sects 17 33).

23. Concerning Motion (abridged).

24. Passive Obedience.

Part VIII: David Hume (1711 76):.

Introduction..

25. An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding.

Of the Academical or Sceptical Philosophy (sect. 12).

26. An Enquiry Concerning the Principles of Morals.

Concerning Moral Sentiment (Appendix I).

27. Of the Original Contract.

28. The Natural History of Religion.

Bad Influence of Popular Religions on Morality (sect. 14).

General Corollary (sect. 15).

Part IX: Thomas Reid (1710 96):.

Introduction..

29. Essays on the Intellectual Powers of Man.

Of Perception (from Essay II).

Of Mr. Hume′s Skepticism With Regard to Reason (from Essay VII).

30. Essays on the Active Powers of the Human Mind.

Of Morals (from Essay V).

31. Some Observations on the Modern System of Materialism.

Part X: Jean–Jacques Rousseau (1712 88):.

Introduction..

32. Discourse on the Arts and the Sciences.

The Effect of the Arts and Sciences on Moral Development (excerpt).

33. Discourse on the Origin of Inequality.

34. Émile.

On Government (from Bk V).

35. The Social Contract.

Civil Religion (ch. 8).

Part XI: Immanuel Kant (1724 1804):.

Introduction..

36. What Real Progress Has Metaphysics Made in Germany since the Time of Leibniz and Wolff?.

37. The Metaphysics of Morals (Introduction).

Rudimentary Concepts of the Metaphysics of Morals.

38. Logic.

Concept of Philosophy in General (from the Introduction).

39. On the Relationship of Theory to Practice in Political Right (abridged).

40. Lectures on Philosophical Theology.

The Nature and Certainty of Moral Faith (sect. 2).

Part XII: Jeremy Bentham (1748 1832):.

Introduction..

41. An Introduction to the Principles of Morals and Legislation.

Of the Principle of Utility (ch. 1).

42. The Panopticon; or Inspection–House.

Plan for a Penitentiary Inspection–House (Letter 2).

Extent for a Single Building (Letter 3).

Essential Points of the Plan (Letter 5).

43. A Fragment on Ontology.

Introduction; Classification of Entities (ch. 1).

44. Essay on Logic.

Of Exposition by Paraphrasis (sect. 7).

45. A Fragment on Government.

Of the Original Contract (chs 36 40).

46. Chrestomathia.

Sources of Motion (Appendix V).

Part XIII: G. W. F. Hegel (1770 1831):.

Introduction..

47. Who Thinks Abstractly?.

48. Logic.

49. Phenomenology of Spirit.

Introduction (§§ 73 89).

The Truth of Self–Certainty (§§ 166 77).

Part XIV: Søren Kierkegaard (1813 55):.

Introduction..

50. Fear and Trembling.

Is There a Teleological Suspension of the Ethical? (Problema I).

51. Purity of Heart Is To Will One Thing.

Live as an "Individual" (excerpt).

52. Practice in Christianity.

The Halt (from No. I).

The Categories of Offense, That Is, of Essential Offense (from No. II).

53. The Fatherland.

Would It Be Best Now to "Stop Ringing the Fire Alarm"? (article XIV).

54. The Instant.

What Says the Fire Chief? (No. 6).

When is "the Instant"? (No. 10).

Part XV: Arthur Schopenhauer (1788 1860):.

Introduction..

55. The World as Will and Representation.

On Philosophy (from v. I).

On the Fundamental View of Idealism (v. II, ch. 1).

On the Primacy of the Will in Self–Consciousness (v. II, ch. 19).

On Death (v. II, ch. 41).

On Philosophy (from v. II).

Part XVI: John Stuart Mill (1806 73):.

Introduction..

56. Speech on Perfectibility.

57. On Democracy.

58. A System of Logic.

Of the Ground of Induction (ch. 3, abridged).

59. Utilitarianism.

Of the Ultimate Sanction of the Principle of Utility (ch. 3).

60. The Utility of Religion.

The Religion of Humanity (excerpt).

Part XVII: Karl Marx (1818 83):.

Introduction..

61. Economic and Philosophical Manuscripts.

Third Manuscript (excerpt).

62. Manifesto of the Communist Party.

Bourgeois and Proletarians (from ch. 1).

63. Capital: A Critique of Political Economy.

The Fetishism of Commodities and the Secret Thereof (sect. 4).

Part XVIII: Friedrich Nietzsche (1844 1900):.

Introduction..

64. Human, All–Too–Human.

Man Alone With Himself (excerpt).

65. Daybreak (Preface).

66. The Gay Science (excerpts).

Select Bibliography of Recent Literature.

Index.

Steven M. Emmanuel is Professor of Philosophy at Virginia Wesleyan College. He is author of Kierkegaard and the Concept of Revelation (1996) and editor of The Blackwell Guide to the Modern Philosophers (Blackwell 2001).

Patrick Goold is Assistant Professor of Philosophy at Virginia Wesleyan College.

"An exceptional resource, providing an unusually wide and varied range of texts for each author. This book will be invaluable, giving a breadth of material without equal. An essential work of reference." Nicholas Dent, University of Birmingham <!––end––>

"While the study of modern philosophy has become a rich and exciting field, most texts for the period exactly resemble the texts of 30 years ago. In addition to moving beyond the Meditations and the Monadology to give some sense of the breadth of interests of the moderns, Emmanuel and Goold include a fine selection of nineteenth–century works. This collection should enable students and teachers to reconsider the contours of modern philosophy." Patricia Kitcher, Columbia University