Augustine and Modernity is a fresh and challenging addition to current debates about the Augustinian origins of modern subjectivity and the Christian genesis of Western nihilism. It firmly rejects the dominant modern view that the modern Cartesian subject, as an archetype of Western nihilism, originates in Augustine's thought. Arguing that most contemporary interpretations misrepresent the complex philosophical relationship between Augustine and modern philosophy, particularly with regard to the work of Descartes, the book examines the much overlooked contribution of Stoicism to the genealogy of modernity, producing a scathing riposte to commonly-held versions of the 'continuity thesis'.
Michael Hanby identifies the modern concept of will that emerges in Descartes' work as the product of a notion of self more proper to Stoic theories of immanence than to Augustine's own rigorous understandings of the Trinity, creation, self and will. Though Augustine's encounter with Stoicism ultimately resulted in much of his teaching being transferred to Descartes and other modern thinkers in an adulterated form, Hanby draws critical attention to Augustine's own disillusionment with Stoicism and his interrogation of Stoic philosophy in the name of Christ and the Trinity. Representing a new school of theology willing to engage critically with other disciplines and to challenge their authority, Augustine and Modernity offers a comprehensive new interpretation of De Trinitate and of Augustinian concepts of will and soul. Revealing how much of what is now thought of as 'Augustinian' in fact has its genealogy in Stoic asceticism, it interprets the modern nihilistic Cartesian subject not as a logical consequence of a true Christian Trinitarian theology, but rather of its perversion and abandonment.

Contents:
1. Lord Herbert of Cherbury and the Cambridge Platonists
2. Science and British philosophy: Boyle and Newton
3. Locke: knowledge and its limits
4. Locke's political theory
5. George Berkeley
6. David Hume on human understanding
7. Hume: moral and political philosophy
8. British moralists of the eighteenth century: Shaftesbury, Butler and Price
9. The French Enlightenment I: science, materialism and determinism
10. The French Enlightenment II: deism, morality and politics
11. The Scottish Enlightenment
12. The German Aufklärung and British philosophy
13. Giambattista Vico
14. Rousseau and Burke

In the 20th century theorists of mind were almost exclusively concerned with various versions of the materialist thesis, but prior to current debates accounts of soul and mind reveal an extraordinary richness and complexity which bear careful and impartial investigation. This book is the first single-authored, comprehensive work to examine the historical, linguistic and conceptual issues involved in exploring the basic features of the human mind - from its most remote origins to the beginning of the modern period. MacDonald traces the development of an armature of psychical concepts from the Old Testament and Homer's works to the 18th century advocacy of an empirical science of the mind. Along the way, detailed attention is paid to the Presocratics, Plato, Aristotle, the Stoics and Epicurus, before turning to look at the New Testament, Neoplatonism, Augustine, Medieval Islam, Aquinas and Dante. Treatment of Renaissance theories is followed by an unusual (perhaps unique) chapter on the words "soul" and "mind" in English literature from Chaucer to Shakespeare; the story then rejoins the mainstream with analyses of Descartes, Spinoza, Leibniz, Hobbes, Locke, Berkeley, and Hume. Chapter-focused bibliographies.

This book presents the first accessible analysis of Spinoza's Tractatus Theologico-politicus, situating the work in the context of Spinoza's general philosophy and its 17th-century historical background. According to Spinoza it is impossible for a being to be infinitely perfect and to have a legislative will. This idea, demonstrated in the Ethics, is presupposed and further elaborated in the Tractatus Theologico-politicus. It implies not only that on the level of truth all revealed religion is false, but also that all authority is of human origin and that all obedience is rooted in a political structure. The consequences for authority as it is used in a religious context are explored: the authority of Scripture, the authority of particular interpretations of Scripture, and the authority of the Church. Verbeek also explores the work of two other philosophers of the period - Hobbes and Descartes - to highlight certain peculiarities of Spinoza's position, and to show the contrasts between their theories.

Contents:
Introduction. Rousseau: the life and work, 1. Rousseau's divided thought: the morality of the senses and the morality of duty 2. The Discourse on the Origin of Inequality Among Men 3. The Emile Part 4 The Social Contract: principles of right 5. The empire of the laws: the general will and totalitarianism 6. The Social Contract: maxims of politics 7. Amour-propre 8. Men and Women 9. Language 10. Religion and politics 11. Negative theology: revealed relgion criticized 12. Postitive theology: natural religion defended. Concluding reflections.

This anthology is the first attempt to present a rounded picture of 'Kierkegaard as a philosopher' in English. After an introduction explaining how Kierkegaard viewed the task of 'becoming a philosopher', there are generous extracts from the "Concept of Irony" and the great pseudonymous works: " Either/Or," "Fear and Trembling," "Repetition,"" Philosophical Fragments," "The Concept of Anxiety," "Prefaces,"" Johannes Climacus" and "Concluding Unscientific Postscript," Kierkegaard's own attempts to summarize the significance of his writings are also included, so that readers have the opportunity to make up their own minds about the adequacy of his retrospective accounting.

The Kierkegaard who emerges from these pages is not only a penetrating analyst of temporality, individuality, and irony, but also a lithe, witty and versatile stylist. He is probably one of the greatest writers in the philosophical tradition, and surely one of the most humorous.

The anthology makes use of a range of classic translations, and includes new translations by Jane Chamberlain and Jonathan Ree, explanatory introductions, an index and a glossary.

First published in 1999, this volume endeavours to determine the coherence of David Hume's philosophical system. That is, to show that Hume' philosophy is founded upon nothing but his doctrine of belief, from which the entirety of Hume's philosophy may ultimately be derived. Paul A. Mwaipaya demonstrates the coherence of Hume's thoughts in order to show where it has been misunderstood and to dissolve confusing interpretations of Hume's philosophy. This ultimate commonality is derived through examinations of Hume's general theory of perception, Hume's theory of knowledge and probability and Hume's theory of passions and morality.

Contents:
1. From Leibniz to Kant. 2. Kant's Copernican Revolution. 3. Kant's Moral and Political Philosophy. Kant: Critique of Judgement. Fichte and Schelling: The Jena period. 6. Hegel's Phenomenology of Spirit 7. Hegel's Logic and Philosophy of Mind 8. Hegel, spirit and politics. 9. The Young Hegelians, Feuerbach and Marx. 10. Arthur Schopenhauer 11. Kierkegaard's speculative despair

George Pattison provides a bold and innovative reassessment of Kierkegaard's neglected Eighteen Upbuilding Discourses and reading of his work as a whole. The first full length assessment of the discourses in English, this volume will be essential reading for philosophers and theologians, and anyone interested in Kierkegaard and the history of philosophy.

eBook available with sample pages: 0203216571

First published in 2002. This is Volume XI of twelve in the Library of Philosophy series on Ethics. This study is the author's criticism of some political and ethical conceptions outlined on Natural Rights and was written in 1894.

First published in 2002. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

This Handbook provides a comprehensive single-volume treatment of Fichte's philosophy. In addition to offering new researchers an authoritative introduction and orientation to Fichtean thought, the volume also surveys the main scholarly and philosophical controversies regarding Fichtean interpretation, and defends a range of philosophical theses in a way that advances the scholarly discussion. Fichte is the first major philosopher in the post-Kantian tradition and the first of the great German Idealists, but he was no mere epigone of Kant or precursor to Hegel. His work speaks powerfully and originally to a wide range of issues of enduring concern, and his many innovations importantly anticipate major developments, including absolute idealism, phenomenology, and existentialism. He is therefore not only a path-breaking thinker but also a pivotal figure in Western intellectual history. Wide-ranging, well-organised and timely, this key volume makes Fichte's work both accessible and relevant. It is essential reading for scholars, graduate researchers and advanced students interested in Fichte, German Idealism, and the history of nineteenth-century philosophy in the West.

This collection of essays delineates the history of the rather disparate intellectual tradition usually labeled as "Platonic" or "Neoplatonic." In chronological order, the book covers the most eminent philosophic schools of thought within that tradition. The most important terms of the Platonic tradition are studied together with a discussion of their semantic implications, the philosophical and theological claims associated with the terms, the sources that furnish the terms, and the intellectual traditions aligned with or opposed to them. The contributors thereby provide a vivid intellectual map of the Middle Ages and the Early Modern period. Contributions are written in English or German.

Denmark’s Catalyst: The Life and Letters of N.F.S. Grundtvig is the last book in the 6-volume series ‘N.F.S. Grundtvig. Works in English.’ Translator Edward Broadbridge joins forces with Grundtvig scholar Hans Raun Iversen in this new biography of the most influential Dane in modern Denmark. Grundtvig (1783-1872) was a pastor, pedagogue, poet, politician, and philosopher all rolled into one. Best known internationally for his concepts of a people’s (folk) high school, of ‘learning for life’ and of ‘lifelong learning’, in Denmark he is equally famous as the nation-builder and champion of ‘the common good’ – Denmark’s modern watchword. This comprehensive, illustrated biography is supplemented by 70 letters tracing Grundtvig’s personal experiences first-hand in surprisingly honest terms, including his love life, his depressions, and his four trips to England.

Since the nineteenth century, moral philosophy in the Western world has been dominated by utilitarianism, Kantianism, and relativism. Only a few philosophers have been able to escape from this Procrustean bed. Foremost among these few is Nicolai Hartmann (1882-1950). Together with Henri Bergson and Martin Heidegger, Hartmann was instrumental in restoring metaphysics. Hartmann's metaphysics differs markedly from that of both Bergson and Heidegger, in his indebtedness to Plato.

In 1926, Hartmann published a massive treatise, "Ethik," which was translated into English by Stanton Coit and published as "Ethics" in 1932. "Ethics" is probably the most outstanding treatise on moral philosophy in the twentieth century. The central concept of the book is "value." Drawing upon the pre-modern view of ethics, Hartmann maintains that values are objectively given, part and parcel of the order of being. We cannot invent values, we can merely discover them.

The first part of "Ethics" is concerned with the structure of ethical phenomena and criticizes utilitarianism, Kantianism, and relativism as misleading approaches. After some introductory thoughts concerning the competence of practical philosophy, Hartmann discusses the essence of moral values, including their absoluteness and ideal being, and the essence of the "ought." Hartmann is both controversial and compelling. He provides a moral philosophy that rejects the subjectivism of the ruling approaches, without taking recourse to older theological notions on the foundation of the ethical. In sum: Hartmann's Ethics constitutes an impressive and preeminent contribution to moral philosophy.

Best known for having declared the death of God, Nietzsche was a thinker thoroughly absorbed in the Christian tradition in which he was born and raised. Yet while the atheist Nietzsche is well known, the pious Nietzsche is seldom recognised and rarely understood.Redeeming Nietzsche examines the residual theologian in the most vociferous of atheists.
Fraser demonstrates that although Nietzsche rejected God, he remained obsessed with the question of human salvation. Examining his accounts of art, truth, morality and eternity, Nietzsche's thought is revealed to be a series of experiments in redemption.

This text examines the boundary between logic and philosophy in Kant and Hegel. Through a detailed analysis of 'quantity', it highlights the different ways Kant and Hegel handle this boundary. Kant is consistent in maintaining this boundary, but Hegel erases it and in the process transforms both logic and philosophy.

Originally published between 1982 and 1991 the 3 volumes in this set Reflect the diversity in Hegelianism and every branch of philosophy which he contributed to. Examine Hegel's work in relation to Marx and Wittgenstein Discuss Hegel's social theory Examine British Hegelian thinking and the lines of its development Offer an interpretation of Hegelian theory that is relevant for the understanding of modern republican constitutions.

This book bears witness to the current reawakening of interest in Reid's philosophy. It first examines Reid's negative attack on the Way of Ideas, and finds him to be a devastating critic of his predecessors. Turning to the positive part of Reid's programme, the author then develops a fresh interpretation of Reid as an anticipator of present-day 'reliabilism'.
Throughout the book, Reid is presented as a powerful thinker with much to say to philosophers in the twenty-first century. The book will be of interest not only to Reid scholars and historians of philosophy, but also to specialists and students in contemporary epistemology.

eBook available with sample pages: 0203166205

This book explores the relationship between Hume's sceptical philosophy and his Newtonian ambition of founding a science of human nature. Assessing both received and 'new' readings of Hume's philosophy, Stanistreet offers a line of interpretation which, he argues, makes sense of many of the apparent conflicts and paradoxes in Hume's work and describes how well-known controversies concerning Hume's thinking about causation, induction and the external world can be resolved. Stainstreet argues that Hume's notorious sceptical arguments are not the episodic outbursts of an unsystematic philosopher, but emerge as part of his attempt to provide science and philosophy with grounds which face up to and withstand the scepticism to which reflective thinkers are naturally prone. Offering important new contributions to Hume scholarship, this book also surveys and assesses the new research responsible for the recent sea-change in thinking about Hume. It offers an accessible overview of these developments while suggesting significant revisions to current readings of Hume's philosophy.

Hume's "New Scene of Thought," is a defense of Hume's philosophical principles in the Treatise of Human Nature. Nelson shows that Hume's new philosophy was a uniquely original and profound work, a masterpiece in philosophical literature, and a work worthy of serious study and acceptance. Expounding on the meaning that Hume gives to his new science of man founded on an empirical foundation, it is shown that all the sciences were, in effect, nothing more than branches of "introspective psychology." The thesis of The Several faces of David Hume in The Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion is that Dialogues is a reflective philosophical autobiography of Hume himself. Every character represents Hume at some stage in his life: Pamphilus is Hume at fifteen, and Philo is Hume in his adult philosophical maturity. Cleanthes is Bishop Butler but also Hume, when Hume was under the sway of Butler's writings as a young man. Demea represents the orthodox religious views that Hume was raised on, which Hume rejected by his eighteenth year.

With a new introduction by Alan Sica. Giambattista Vico (1668-1744) is often regarded as the beleaguered, neglected genius of pre-Enlightenment Naples. His work-though known to Herder, Coleridge, Matthew Arnold, and Michelet-widely and deeply appreciated only during the twentieth century. Although Vico may be best known for the use James Joyce made of his theories in Finnegans Wake, Croce's insightful analysis of Vico's ideas played a large role in alerting readers to his unique voice. Croce's volume preceded Joyce's creation of "Mr. John Baptister Vickar" by a quarter century. During the last 25 years Vico's ideas about history, language, anti-Cartesian epistemology, and rhetoric have begun to receive the recognition their admirers have long claimed they deserve. Increasing numbers of publications appear annually which bear the stamp of Vico's thinking. Even if he is not yet so renowned as some of his contemporaries, such as Locke, Voltaire, or Montesquieu, there are good reasons to believe that in the future he will be equally honored as a cultural theorist. As a theorist of historical process and its language, there is no more innovative voice than his until the twentieth century-which explains in part why such figures as Joyce and R.G. Collingwood freely drew on Vico's work, particularly his New Science, while creating their own. If Vico was Naples' most brilliant, if uncelebrated, citizen prior to the Enlightenment taking hold in Southern Italy, then Croce (1866-1952) is surely the city's most important thinker of modern times, and the single indispensable Italian philosopher since Vico's death. When a genius of Croce's interpretative prowess, evaluates the work of another, it is inevitable that an explosive mixture will result. A great virtue of this book is its fusion of Croce's unique brand of idealism and aesthetic philosophy with Vico's epistemological, ethical, and historical theories. If Vico's theory of cyclical changes in history, the corsi e ricorsi, remains fruitful, it might be argued that Croce's evaluation of his countryman' ideas represented the next turn of the philosophical wheel toward enlightenment.

John Stuart Mill's thought has been central in works discussing the relationship between liberalism and nationality and in shaping liberal attitudes towards nationality. This book provides a thorough study of Mill's ideas, and aims to clarify some of the misconceptions surrounding his writings on nationalism. The book examines notions of 'liberal nationalism', the importance of race, national character and politics, international relations, self-determination, and foreign policy. Varouxakis' comprehensive work is an important contribution to scholarship in the history of political thought and intellectual history, as well as contributing to the current debates regarding nationhood, nationalism, patriotism, and the meaning of 'Englishness'.

eBook available with sample pages: 0203164156

This book highlights Kant's fundamental contrast between the mechanistic and dynamical conceptions of matter, which is central to his views about the foundations of physics, and is best understood in terms of the contrast between objects of sensibility and things in themselves.

In this clear, critical examination of the ideas of one of the greatest and most influential of modern philosophers, M.J. Inwood makes Hegel's arguments fully accessible. He reconstructs Hegel's thought throughout the book by arguing with him, considering Hegel's system as a whole and examining the wide range of problems that it was designed to solve - metaphysical, epistemological, theological and political.
Inwood concentrates especially on the logical and metaphysical ideas which underpin the system and which supply the key to understanding much of what is obscure in Hegel's thought. He examines Hegel's arguments and restates his views precisely and clearly. He also conveys the impressive unity of Hegel's system and its links with the thought of such philosophers as Aristotle, Spinoza and Kant.