For anyone in search of the philosophers who influenced one of the richest moments in Western intellectual history, this inclusive reader is the place to start.
Early Modern Philosophy showcases an unrivalled range of thinkers. Through them, you are introduced to a selection of their texts that return important philosophical ideas and debates to our understanding of modern philosophy. Addressing a one-sided view of intellectual history that has persisted for centuries, this reader goes beyond the usual focus on rationalism and empiricism with readings organised into three parts:
§ Dualistic theories of human nature as the union of a mind and a body
§ Debates concerning social relations and education
§ The nature of reality and the way in which the mind reveals or constructs our understanding of the world.
The thematic approach puts women philosophers and understudied figures in direct conversation with canonical thinkers. Chapters on dualism unite Descartes with Princess Elizabeth of Bohemia, Anne Conway with Leibniz and Margaret Cavendish with Thomas Hobbes. The nature of love connects John Norris, Mary Astell and Damaris Masham and the role of sympathy reveals the differing approaches of Sophie de Grouchy and David Hume.
Extracts from primary sources are accompanied by biographical detail, questions for reflection, further reading and summaries that place philosophers in their historical contexts.
Introduction
Part I: Understanding Human Nature
1. Human as Mind-Body Union: René Descartes, Henry More, and Anton Wilhelm Amo
1a. Dualism in Descartes’ Meditations
1b. Dualism in More’s Immortality of the Soul
1c. Dualism in Amo’s Dissertation
2. The Mind-Body Problem: René Descartes and Elisabeth of Bohemia
2a. Princess Elisabeth and the Problem of Interaction
2b. Descartes’ Response
3. Idealist Responses: Anne Conway and Gottfried Leibniz
3a. Conway’s Spiritual Monism
3b. Leibniz’s System of Monads
4. Materialist Responses: Thomas Hobbes and Margaret Cavendish
4a. Hobbes on Freedom and Matter
4b. Cavendish’s Materialism and the Question of Living Matter
Part II: Sociability and Education
5. The Nature of Love: John Norris, Mary Astell and Damaris Masham
5a. Norris and Astell on Love of God
5b. Masham’s Critique of Norris and Astell
6. The Nature of Morality: John Locke and Catharine Trotter Cockburn
6a. Locke on the Source of Moral Knowledge
6b. Cockburn on God and Morality
7. The Nature of Education: Anna van Schurman and Mary Astell
7a. Reason, Women and Education in Schurman’s Thought
7b. Astell on Education and the Use of Reason
8. The Nature of Sympathy: Sophie de Grouchy and David Hume
8a. Grouchy on Reason and Sympathy
8b. Hume’s Account of Morality and Sympathy
Part III: Mind and Reality
9. God and World: George Berkeley and Baruch Spinoza
9a. Berkeley’s Master Argument
9b. Spinoza on God and Nature
10. The Nature of Space: Samuel Clarke and Émilie du Châtelet
10a. The Leibniz-Clarke Correspondence
10b. Du Chatelet’s Metaphysics
11. The Nature of Causation: David Hume and Thomas Reid
11a. Hume on our Idea of Causation
11b. Reid’s Critique of Hume
12. A Transcendental Approach: Mary Shepherd and Immanuel Kant
12a. Shepherd on Reason and Ideas
12b. Kant on Appearance and Reality
Conclusion: Approaches to an Inclusive Early Modern Philosophy
Glossary of Key Terms
Annotated Bibliography
Index
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