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This series contains both philosophical texts and critical essays about philosophy, concentrating especially on works originally published in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. It covers a broad range of topics including ethics, logic, metaphysics, aesthetics, utilitarianism, positivism, scientific method and political thought. It also includes biographies and accounts of the history of philosophy, as well as collections of papers by leading figures. In addition to this series, primary texts by ancient philosophers and works with particular relevance to philosophy of science, politics or theology may be found elsewhere in the Cambridge Library Collection.

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108 results in Cambridge Library Collection - Philosophy

Page 1 of 6

A System of Moral Philosophy
  • In Three Books
  • Volume 1
  • Francis Hutcheson
  • Published online:
    05 November 2015
    Print publication:
    02 July 2015
    First published in:
    1755
  • Often described as the father of the Scottish Enlightenment, Francis Hutcheson (1694–1746) was born in the north of Ireland to an Ulster-Scottish Presbyterian family. Organised into three 'books' that were divided between two volumes, A System of Moral Philosophy was his most comprehensive work. It synthesised ideas that he had formulated as a minister and as the Chair of Moral Philosophy at the University of Glasgow (1729–46). Published posthumously by his son in 1755, prefaced by an account of his life, it is the only treatise by Hutcheson for which a manuscript is known to have survived. Asserting that individual natural rights derive from an innate understanding of moral behaviour, Hutcheson offers a model that mediates between individual interests and communal ideals. Containing Book 1 and part of Book 2, Volume 1 describes the role and perception of 'perfect' and 'imperfect' natural rights.

The Law of Nations
  • Or, Principles of the Law of Nature, Applied to the Conduct and Affairs of Nations and Sovereigns
  • Emmerich de Vattel
  • Edited by Joseph Chitty
  • Published online:
    05 November 2015
    Print publication:
    15 December 2011
    First published in:
    1834
  • This enormously influential work by Swiss diplomat and jurist Emmerich de Vattel (1714–76) was first published in 1758, and is credited with shaping modern international law by applying natural law to international relations. Its argument for liberty and equality proved influential upon the American Declaration of Independence, with Benjamin Franklin commenting on its usefulness to the drafters. The book was translated into English in 1760, 1787, and 1797: the latter version was revised by Joseph Chitty the elder (1775–1841), a barrister and one of the most prolific legal writers of his day, who published more than twenty books on law in his lifetime, and also served as tutor or mentor to some of the most influential lawyers of nineteenth-century England. First published in 1834, Chitty's version amends the errors of the anonymous 1797 translation, as well as revising and expanding the explanatory notes.

Works of Thomas Hill Green
  • Volume 3, Miscellanies and Memoirs
  • Thomas Hill Green
  • Edited by R. L. Nettleship
  • Published online:
    05 November 2015
    Print publication:
    22 December 2011
    First published in:
    1888
  • Thomas Hill Green (1836–82) was one of the most influential English thinkers of his time, and he made significant contributions to the development of political liberalism. Much of his career was spent at Balliol College, Oxford: having begun as a student of Benjamin Jowett, he later acted effectively as his second-in-command at the college. Interested for his whole career in social questions, Green supported the temperance movement, the extension of the franchise, and the admission of women to university education. He became Whyte's professor of moral philosophy at Oxford in 1878, and his lectures had a lasting influence on a generation of students. Volume 3, published in 1888, contains a memoir by Nettleship, Green's pupil and editor, drawing on Green's recollections, as well as the memories of friends and family. The rest of the volume consists of essays on topics ranging from Aristotle to Christian dogma.

Common Sense
  • With the Whole Appendix: the Address to the Quakers: Also, the Large Additions
  • Thomas Paine
  • Published online:
    05 November 2015
    Print publication:
    10 November 2011
    First published in:
    1776
  • This famous pamphlet - published anonymously in 1776 because of its seditious content - by the British political radical Thomas Paine (1737–1809) laid out his pioneering ideas for American independence, and earned him the title of 'Father of the American Revolution'. The Declaration of Independence, written chiefly by Thomas Jefferson and famously promulgated later that year, was influenced by Paine's arguments in this work: that America was too large to be governed by a country as small as Britain - which, he claimed, was ruling America only for its own financial gain - and that the colonies had now achieved the financial and military capacity to break free. Criticising the British monarchical system, with a single figure at its pinnacle, Paine called instead for a government that promoted security, liberty and equality for its people. Over half a million copies of this highly influential document were sold in America in its first year.

A System of Moral Philosophy
  • In Three Books
  • Volume 2
  • Francis Hutcheson
  • Published online:
    05 October 2015
    Print publication:
    02 July 2015
    First published in:
    1755
  • Often described as the father of the Scottish Enlightenment, Francis Hutcheson (1694–1746) was born in the north of Ireland to an Ulster-Scottish Presbyterian family. Organised into three 'books' that were divided between two volumes, A System of Moral Philosophy was his most comprehensive work. It synthesised ideas that he had formulated as a minister and as the Chair of Moral Philosophy at the University of Glasgow (1729–46). Published posthumously by his son in 1755, prefaced by an account of his life, it is the only treatise by Hutcheson for which a manuscript is known to have survived. Asserting that individual natural rights derive from an innate understanding of moral behaviour, Hutcheson offers a model that mediates between individual interests and communal ideals. Containing the concluding chapters of Book 2 and Book 3, Volume 2 explores the role of familial and political governance in relation to communal happiness.

Utilitarianism
  • John Stuart Mill
  • Published online:
    05 June 2015
    Print publication:
    21 August 2014
  • Reissued here in its corrected second edition of 1864, this essay by John Stuart Mill (1806–73) argues for a utilitarian theory of morality. Originally printed as a series of three articles in Fraser's Magazine in 1861, the work sought to refine the 'greatest happiness' principle that had been championed by Jeremy Bentham (1748–1832), defending it from common criticisms, and offering a justification of its validity. Following Bentham, Mill holds that actions can be judged as right or wrong depending on whether they promote happiness or 'the reverse of happiness'. Although attracted by Bentham's consequentialist framework based on empirical evidence rather than intuition, Mill separates happiness into 'higher' and 'lower' pleasures, arguing for a weighted system of measurement when making and judging decisions. Dissected and debated since its first appearance, the essay is Mill's key discussion on the topic and remains a fundamental text in the study of ethics.

The Philosophy of Life, and, Philosophy of Language
  • In a Course of Lectures
  • Friedrich von Schlegel
  • Translated by A. J. W. Morrison
  • Published online:
    05 June 2015
    Print publication:
    11 December 2014
  • Critic, poet and philosopher Friedrich von Schlegel (1772–1829) was a leading figure of German Romanticism. In the two years before his untimely death, he wrote three cycles of lectures intended as part of a larger project to lay the foundations of a new general philosophy. Two of these cycles, 'Philosophie des Lebens' (given in 1827, published 1828) and 'Philosophie des Sprache und des Wortes' (given in December 1828 and published posthumously), are reissued here in an 1847 English translation. The first presents Schlegel's understanding of philosophy as independent of theology or politics, concerned with the 'inner spiritual life' of humankind. The second explores the nature of communication through language and art. Schlegel argues that full human consciousness cannot be restored by Enlightenment science, but only by divine revelation and redemption. He offers no ready-made solutions, but encourages his listeners to develop their own responses to these questions.

The Philosophy of the Inductive Sciences
  • Founded upon their History
  • Volume 1
  • William Whewell
  • Published online:
    05 December 2014
    Print publication:
    02 January 2014
  • First published in 1840, this two-volume treatise by Cambridge polymath William Whewell (1794–1886) remains significant in the philosophy of science. The work was intended as the 'moral' to his three-volume History of the Inductive Sciences (1837), which is also reissued in this series. Building on philosophical foundations laid by Immanuel Kant and Francis Bacon, Whewell opens with the aphorism 'Man is the Interpreter of Nature, Science the right interpretation'. Volume 1 contains the majority of Whewell's section on 'ideas', in which he investigates the philosophy underlying a range of different disciplines, including pure, classificatory and mechanical sciences. Whewell's work upholds throughout his belief that the mind was active and not merely a passive receiver of knowledge from the world. A key text in Victorian epistemological debates, notably challenged by John Stuart Mill and his System of Logic, Whewell's treatise merits continued study and discussion in the present day.

Utilitarianism Explained and Exemplified in Moral and Political Government
  • Charles Tennant
  • Published online:
    05 November 2014
    Print publication:
    20 March 2014
    First published in:
    1864
  • A founder in 1830 of the National Colonization Society, Charles Tennant (1796–1873) advocated government support for emigration to Britain's colonies as a means of alleviating poverty at home and boosting the workforce overseas. Briefly representing St Albans in Parliament, he later wrote treatises on contemporary political and financial questions, notably arguing for the abolition of income tax in The People's Blue Book (1857). Also published anonymously, the present work, which appeared in 1864, offers a critique of John Stuart Mill's Utilitarianism (1863). Tennant argues that happiness does not consist in utility, but rather in conformity to divine will as described by the Christian faith. Nevertheless, Tennant says, we ought to promote utility, as this is likely to be conducive to happiness. He then applies this view in detail to contemporary problems of government, domestic policy, taxation, colonies, dependencies, and foreign policy.

The Philosophy of the Inductive Sciences
  • Founded upon their History
  • Volume 2
  • William Whewell
  • Published online:
    05 October 2014
    Print publication:
    02 January 2014
  • First published in 1840, this two-volume treatise by Cambridge polymath William Whewell (1794–1886) remains significant in the philosophy of science. The work was intended as the 'moral' to his three-volume History of the Inductive Sciences (1837), which is also reissued in this series. Building on philosophical foundations laid by Immanuel Kant and Francis Bacon, Whewell opens with the aphorism 'Man is the Interpreter of Nature, Science the right interpretation'. Volume 2 contains the final sections of Part 1, addressing namely the philosophy of biology and palaetiology. Part 2, 'Of Knowledge', includes a selective review of opinions on the nature of knowledge and the means of seeking it, beginning with Plato. Whewell's work upholds throughout his belief that the mind was active and not merely a passive receiver of knowledge from the world. A key text in Victorian epistemological debates, notably challenged by John Stuart Mill and his System of Logic, Whewell's treatise merits continued study and discussion in the present day.

Observations on Man
  • His Frame, his Duty, and his Expectations
  • Volume 2
  • David Hartley
  • Published online:
    05 October 2014
    Print publication:
    31 October 2013
  • The orphaned son of an Anglican clergyman, David Hartley (1705–57) was originally destined for holy orders. Declining to subscribe to the Thirty-Nine Articles, he turned to medicine and science yet remained a religious believer. This, his most significant work, provides a rigorous analysis of human nature, blending philosophy, psychology and theology. First published in two volumes in 1749, Observations on Man is notable for being based on the doctrine of the association of ideas. It greatly influenced scientists, theologians, social reformers and poets: Samuel Taylor Coleridge, who named his eldest son after Hartley, had his portrait painted while holding a copy. Volume 2 is particularly concerned with human morality and the duty and expectations of mankind. Here the author is keen to show that scientific observation is not necessarily in conflict with religious conviction.

A Defence of Usury
  • Shewing the Impolicy of the Present Legal Restraints on the Terms of Pecuniary Bargains, in a Series of Letters to a Friend
  • Jeremy Bentham
  • Published online:
    05 October 2014
    Print publication:
    20 March 2014
  • The utilitarian philosopher and jurist Jeremy Bentham (1748–1832) argues in this collection of letters for the cessation of government control of the rate of interest. The work first appeared in 1787 and is reissued here in the version published in Dublin in 1788. The final letter, addressed to Adam Smith, is a response to Smith's Wealth of Nations (1776), arguing against the limits to inventive industry forced by the restriction on rates. Throughout the work is Bentham's emphasis on the value, both ethical and practical, of allowing private citizens to regulate their own financial dealings. Bentham offers a sophisticated philosophical, economic and political analysis of 'usury' and in so doing provides a template for a wider liberal view. Influential at the time of publication, the work still retains its significance in making a case for the proper relationship between the individual and the state.

The Life and Letters of Herbert Spencer
  • David Duncan
  • Published online:
    05 October 2014
    Print publication:
    21 November 2013
  • One of the most famous intellectuals of the second half of the nineteenth century, Herbert Spencer (1820–1903) wrote across an impressive range of scientific and philosophical subjects. Although at the time his work was successful and influential, especially in America, it has since been subjected to criticism and reassessment. Principally remembered for his evolutionary theory and for coining the term 'survival of the fittest', Spencer came to be regarded as a Social Darwinist and proponent of unrestricted capitalism. In the field of sociology, he advocated the application of scientific examination to social phenomena, and his individualist philosophy provided inspiration for later libertarian thinkers. Published in 1908 by David Duncan (1839–1923), this substantial biography closely tracks Spencer's developing interests, closing with an assessment of his character and significance. It contains an abundance of extracts from letters to such figures as Charles Darwin, John Stuart Mill and T. H. Huxley.

The Philosophy of Rhetoric
  • Volume 1
  • George Campbell
  • Published online:
    05 October 2014
    Print publication:
    31 October 2013
  • A leading figure of the Scottish Enlightenment, George Campbell (1719–96) began to write what was to become his most famous work, The Philosophy of Rhetoric, soon after his ordination as a minister in 1748. Later, as a founder of the Aberdeen Philosophical Society, he was able to present his theories, and these discourses were eventually published in 1776. In the spirit of the Enlightenment, Campbell combined classical rhetorical theory with the latest thinking in the social, behavioural and natural sciences. A proponent of 'common sense' philosophy, he was particularly interested in the effect of successful rhetoric upon the mind. Published in two volumes, the work is divided into three books. Volume 1 contains Book 1 and part of Book 2. Book 1 emphasises the necessity of acknowledging and adapting to the needs of an audience. In Book 2, Campbell expands on the linguistic tools a successful rhetorician should employ.

Pragmatism
  • A New Name for Some Old Ways of Thinking
  • William James
  • Published online:
    05 October 2014
    Print publication:
    20 March 2014
  • One of the great American pragmatic philosophers alongside Peirce and Dewey, William James (1842–1910) delivered these eight lectures in Boston and New York in the winter of 1906–7. Though he credits Peirce with coining the term 'pragmatism', James highlights in his subtitle that this 'new name' describes a philosophical temperament as old as Socrates. The pragmatic approach, he says, takes a middle way between rationalism's airy principles and empiricism's hard facts. James' pragmatism is both a method of interpreting ideas by their practical consequences and an epistemology which identifies truths according to their useful outcomes. Furnished with many examples, the lectures illustrate pragmatism's response to classic problems such as the question of free will versus determinism. Published in 1907, this work further develops James's approach to religion and morality, introduced in The Will to Believe (1897) and The Varieties of Religious Experience (1902), both reissued in this series.

The Principles of Moral and Political Philosophy
  • William Paley
  • Published online:
    05 October 2014
    Print publication:
    24 October 2013
  • A major philosophical mind in his day, William Paley (1743–1805) wrote in a lucid style that made complex ideas more accessible to a wide readership. This work, first published in 1785, was based on the lectures he gave on moral philosophy at Christ's College, Cambridge. Cited in parliamentary debates and remaining on the syllabus at Cambridge into the twentieth century, it stands as one of the most influential texts to emerge from the Enlightenment period in Britain. An orthodox theologian, grounding his utilitarian ethics in strong religious faith, Paley held notably progressive views on issues of toleration and the slave trade. His perspicuity prompted one contemporary to remark that the book 'presents a subject which has always been considered as harsh and difficult, in the most agreeable and intelligible form … we sit down to be informed of our duty, and are surprised to meet with amusement'.

The Will to Believe
  • And Other Essays in Popular Philosophy
  • William James
  • Published online:
    05 October 2014
    Print publication:
    20 March 2014
  • For this 1897 publication, the American philosopher William James (1842–1910) brought together ten essays, some of which were originally talks given to Ivy League societies. Accessible to a broader audience, these non-technical essays illustrate the author's pragmatic approach to belief and morality, arguing for faith and action in spite of uncertainty. James thought his audiences suffered 'paralysis of their native capacity for faith' while awaiting scientific grounds for belief. His response consisted in an attitude of 'radical empiricism', which deals practically rather than ideologically with real-world phenomena. When facing a 'momentous' decision about belief, he says, we both can and must choose the best hypothesis. The first four essays apply this principle to religious faith, and the rest explore the pragmatic approach to such topics as determinism, ethics and individual achievement. James developed his ideas further in The Varieties of Religious Experience (1902) and Pragmatism (1907), both of which are reissued in this series.

The Philosophy of Rhetoric
  • Volume 2
  • George Campbell
  • Published online:
    05 October 2014
    Print publication:
    31 October 2013
  • A leading figure of the Scottish Enlightenment, George Campbell (1719–96) began to write what was to become his most famous work, The Philosophy of Rhetoric, soon after his ordination as a minister in 1748. Later, as a founder of the Aberdeen Philosophical Society, he was able to present his theories, and these discourses were eventually published in 1776. In the spirit of the Enlightenment, Campbell combined classical rhetorical theory with the latest thinking in the social, behavioural and natural sciences. A proponent of 'common sense' philosophy, he was particularly interested in the effect of successful rhetoric upon the mind. Published in two volumes, the work is divided into three books. Volume 2 contains the concluding part of Book 2 and all of Book 3, which shows the author at his most intricate, expanding upon the correct selection, number and arrangement of words required for successful argument.

A Philosophical Enquiry into the Origin of our Ideas of the Sublime and Beautiful
  • With an Introductory Discourse Concerning Taste; and Several Other Additions
  • Edmund Burke
  • Published online:
    05 October 2014
    Print publication:
    02 January 2014
  • By the eighteenth century, the term 'sublime' was used to communicate a sense of unfathomable and awe-inspiring greatness, whether in nature or thought. The relationship of sublimity to classical definitions of beauty was much debated, but the first philosopher to portray them as opposing forces was Edmund Burke (1729–97). Originally published in 1757 and reissued here in the revised second edition of 1759, this influential treatise explores the psychological origins of both ideas. Presented as distinct consequences of very separate emotional lineages, beauty and sublimity are traced back through a web of human feelings, from self-preservation instincts to lust. Burke's doctrine of the sublime was to have far-reaching effects. In Britain, it informed perceptions of landscape in art and literature for years to come. Meanwhile, on the continent, Kant regarded Burke as 'the foremost author' in 'the empirical exposition of aesthetic judgments'.

Observations on Man
  • His Frame, his Duty, and his Expectations
  • Volume 1
  • David Hartley
  • Published online:
    05 October 2014
    Print publication:
    31 October 2013
  • The orphaned son of an Anglican clergyman, David Hartley (1705–57) was originally destined for holy orders. Declining to subscribe to the Thirty-Nine Articles, he turned to medicine and science yet remained a religious believer. This, his most significant work, provides a rigorous analysis of human nature, blending philosophy, psychology and theology. First published in two volumes in 1749, Observations on Man is notable for being based on the doctrine of the association of ideas. It greatly influenced scientists, theologians, social reformers and poets: Samuel Taylor Coleridge, who named his eldest son after Hartley, had his portrait painted while holding a copy. In Volume 1, Hartley utilises Newtonian science in his observations. He presents a theory of 'vibrations', explaining how the elements of the nerves and brain interact as a result of stimulation, creating 'associations' and emotions.

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