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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 4 of 6

Conversations of Goethe with Eckermann and Soret
  • Volume 2
  • Johann Peter Eckermann
  • Translated by John Oxenford
  • Published online:
    05 November 2012
    Print publication:
    08 December 2011
    First published in:
    1850
  • Originally published by Goethe's friend and personal secretary, Johann Peter Eckermann (1792–1854) in German in 1836, this work comprises Eckermann's recollections of his conversations with the German writer and philosopher during the last nine years of his life. Eckermann published a further volume in 1848 using both his own memories and material from the journals of Swiss scientist Frédéric Soret, who was also a close acquaintance of Goethe. The work initially sold poorly in Germany, but quickly became popular internationally, and contributed to the rehabilitation of Goethe's scholarly reputation both within Germany and throughout the world. This edition, translated by British playwright and translator John Oxenford (1812–77) was published in two volumes in London in 1850. Oxenford combined the original three volumes, putting the conversations in chronological order. The topics discussed include religion, politics, literature, poetry and natural sciences. Volume 2 runs from September 1827 to 1832.

The English Utilitarians
  • Volume 1, Jeremy Bentham
  • Leslie Stephen
  • Published online:
    05 November 2012
    Print publication:
    01 December 2011
    First published in:
    1900
  • Leslie Stephen (1832–1904), author, literary critic, social commentator and the first editor of the Dictionary of National Biography, published his two-volume History of English Thought in the Eighteenth Century (also reissued in this series) in 1876. This led him to further investigation and study of utilitarianism, whose proponents believed that human action should be guided by the principle of ensuring the happiness of the greatest number of people. While working on many other projects, especially the Dictionary, and haunted by domestic tragedy in the sudden death of his second wife in 1895, Stephen struggled for two decades with this undertaking, calling it the 'utilitarian bog': the long-awaited three-volume work was finally published in 1900. Volume 1 gives the social and political context of the rise of utilitarianism and examines its leading theorist, Jeremy Bentham (1748–1832).

Appearance and Reality
  • A Metaphysical Essay
  • F. H. Bradley
  • Published online:
    05 November 2012
    Print publication:
    08 December 2011
    First published in:
    1893
  • F. H. Bradley (1846–1924) was the foremost philosopher of the British Idealist school, which came to prominence in the second half of the nineteenth century. Bradley, who was a life fellow of Merton College, Oxford, was influenced by Hegel, and also reacted against utilitarianism. He was recognised during his lifetime as one of the greatest intellectuals of his generation and was the first philosopher to receive the Order of Merit, in 1924. His work is considered to have been important to the formation of analytic philosophy. In metaphysics, he rejected pluralism and realism, and believed that English philosophy needed to deal systematically with first principles. This work, first published in 1893, is divided into two parts: 'Appearance' deals with exposing the contradictions that Bradley believed are hidden in our everyday conceptions of the world; and in 'Reality', he builds his positive account of reality and considers possible objections to it.

Lectures and Essays
  • Volume 2
  • William Kingdon Clifford
  • Edited by Leslie Stephen, Frederick Pollock
  • Published online:
    05 November 2012
    Print publication:
    08 December 2011
    First published in:
    1879
  • A fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge, and of the Royal Society, William Clifford (1845–79) made his reputation in applied mathematics, but his interests ranged far more widely, encompassing ethics, evolution, metaphysics and philosophy of mind. This posthumously collected two-volume work, first published in 1879, bears witness to the dexterity and eclecticism of this Victorian thinker, whose commitment to the most abstract principles of mathematics and the most concrete details of human experience resulted in vivid and often unexpected arguments. Volume 2 shows Clifford's thorough engagement with scientific thought as a method for illuminating ethical and moral questions. Essays such as 'Body and Mind', 'On the Scientific Basis of Morals' and 'The Ethics of Belief' all variously demonstrate Clifford's core tenet: that beliefs - whether they guide human action or scientific enquiry - 'can never suffer from investigation'.

Conversations of Goethe with Eckermann and Soret
  • Volume 1
  • Johann Peter Eckermann
  • Translated by John Oxenford
  • Published online:
    05 November 2012
    Print publication:
    08 December 2011
    First published in:
    1850
  • Originally published by Goethe's friend and personal secretary, Johann Peter Eckermann (1792–1854) in German in 1836, this work comprises Eckermann's recollections of his conversations with the German writer and philosopher during the last nine years of his life. Eckermann published a further volume in 1848 using both his own memories and material from the journals of Swiss scientist Frédéric Soret, who was also a close acquaintance of Goethe. The work initially sold poorly in Germany, but quickly became popular internationally, and contributed to the rehabilitation of Goethe's scholarly reputation both within Germany and throughout the world. This edition, translated by British playwright and translator John Oxenford (1812–77) was published in two volumes in London in 1850. Oxenford combined the original three volumes, putting the conversations in chronological order. The topics discussed include religion, politics, literature, poetry and natural sciences. Volume 1 covers the years 1822 to 1827.

Natural Law
  • An Essay in Ethics
  • Edith Jemima Simcox
  • Published online:
    05 November 2012
    Print publication:
    22 December 2011
    First published in:
    1877
  • Edith Simcox (1844–1901) was a prominent British feminist, social critic and prolific writer. She published widely, advocating support for women's right to education, improved working conditions and suffrage. Her scholarly works in philosophy and economic history sought to demonstrate that contemporary capitalism was not the only route to a prosperous society. Her articles appeared in many periodicals and among her books are Episodes in the Lives of Men, Women, and Lovers (1882) and the two-volume Primitive Civilizations (1894), both also reissued in this series. First published in 1877, this book analyses the laws that govern human relations with society and with the natural world. Its chief concern is to establish whether human actions and feelings are subject to the same natural laws as inanimate objects, and whether such laws are 'of supernatural imposition'. For more information on this author, see http://orlando.cambridge.org/public/svPeople?person_id=simced

On Liberty
  • John Stuart Mill
  • Published online:
    05 November 2012
    Print publication:
    22 December 2011
    First published in:
    1859
  • British philosopher and economist John Stuart Mill (1806–73) is the author of several essays, including Utilitarianism (1863) - a defence of Jeremy Bentham's principle applied to the field of ethics - and The Subjection of Women (1869), which advocates legal equality between the sexes. This work, arguably his most famous contribution to political philosophy and theory, was first published in 1859, and remains a major influence upon contemporary liberal political thought. In it, Mill argues for a limitation of the power of government and society (democracy's 'tyranny of the majority') over the individual, and defines liberty as an absolute individual right. According to the still much debated 'harm principle', power against the individual can only be exercised to prevent harm to others. Full of contemporary relevance, this essay also defends freedom of speech as a necessary condition of social and intellectual progress.

A System of Logic, Ratiocinative and Inductive
  • Being a Connected View of the Principles of Evidence, and the Methods of Scientific Investigation
  • Volume 2
  • John Stuart Mill
  • Published online:
    05 November 2012
    Print publication:
    08 December 2011
    First published in:
    1843
  • This two-volume work, first published in 1843, was John Stuart Mill's first major book. It reinvented the modern study of logic and laid the foundations for his later work in the areas of political economy, women's rights and representative government. In clear, systematic prose, Mill (1806–73) disentangles syllogistic logic from its origins in Aristotle and scholasticism and grounds it instead in processes of inductive reasoning. An important attempt at integrating empiricism within a more general theory of human knowledge, the work constitutes essential reading for anyone seeking a full understanding of Mill's thought. Continuing the discussion of induction, Volume 2 concludes with Book VI, 'On the Logic of the Moral Sciences', in which Mill applies empirical reasoning to human behaviour. A crucial early formulation of his thinking regarding free will and necessity, this book establishes the centrality of 'the social science' to Mill's philosophy.

History of English Thought in the Eighteenth Century
  • Volume 1
  • Leslie Stephen
  • Published online:
    05 November 2012
    Print publication:
    01 December 2011
    First published in:
    1876
  • Leslie Stephen (1832–1904) was a writer, philosopher and literary critic whose work was published widely in the nineteenth century. As a young man Stephen was ordained deacon, but he later became agnostic and much of his work reflects his interest in challenging popular religion. This two-volume work, first published in 1876, is no exception: it focuses on the eighteenth-century deist controversy and its effects, as well as the reactions to what Stephen saw as a revolution in thought. Comprehensive and full of detailed analysis, this is an important work in the history of ideas. Volume 1 contains a thorough discussion of the arguments for and against deism. The debate is placed in a wider philosophical context and the works of Descartes, Locke and Hume are all discussed in detail. The volume concludes with an examination of theological thought at the end of the century.

Collected Essays
  • Volume 7, ‘Man's Place in Nature' and Other Essays
  • Thomas Henry Huxley
  • Published online:
    05 November 2012
    Print publication:
    29 December 2011
    First published in:
    1894
  • Known as 'Darwin's Bulldog', the biologist Thomas Henry Huxley (1825–95) was a tireless supporter of the evolutionary theories of his friend Charles Darwin. Huxley also made his own significant scientific contributions, and he was influential in the development of science education despite having had only two years of formal schooling. He established his scientific reputation through experiments on aquatic life carried out during a voyage to Australia while working as an assistant surgeon in the Royal Navy; ultimately he became President of the Royal Society (1883–5). Throughout his life Huxley struggled with issues of faith, and he coined the term 'agnostic' to describe his beliefs. This nine-volume collection of Huxley's essays, which he edited and published in 1893–4, demonstrates the wide range of his intellectual interests. Volume 7 features a collection of lectures discussing the biological relationship of humans to apes and other animals.

A System of Logic, Ratiocinative and Inductive
  • Being a Connected View of the Principles of Evidence, and the Methods of Scientific Investigation
  • Volume 1
  • John Stuart Mill
  • Published online:
    05 November 2012
    Print publication:
    08 December 2011
    First published in:
    1843
  • This two-volume work, first published in 1843, was John Stuart Mill's first major book. It reinvented the modern study of logic and laid the foundations for his later work in the areas of political economy, women's rights and representative government. In clear, systematic prose, Mill (1806–73) disentangles syllogistic logic from its origins in Aristotle and scholasticism and grounds it instead in processes of inductive reasoning. An important attempt at integrating empiricism within a more general theory of human knowledge, the work constitutes essential reading for anyone seeking a full understanding of Mill's thought. Volume 1 contains Mill's introduction, which elaborates upon his definition of logic as 'not the science of Belief, but the science of Proof, or Evidence'. It also features discussions of the central components of logical reasoning - propositions and syllogisms - in relation to Mill's theories of inductive reasoning and experimental method.

Prolegomena to Ethics
  • T. H. Green
  • Edited by A. C. Bradley
  • Published online:
    05 November 2012
    Print publication:
    08 December 2011
    First published in:
    1883
  • T. H. Green (1836–82) was a leading member of the British Idealist movement, which adopted the continental philosophy of Hegel and Kant while rejecting utilitarianism. As well as being a prominent philosopher, Green was an influential educational reformer and an active member of the Liberal party. Green's writings can be placed into three categories: religion, philosophy and politics. This work was the most complete statement of Green's philosophy, although it remained unfinished at his death (though parts had been published in the philosophical review Mind in 1882). Edited by A. C. Bradley, a former student and brother of Green's fellow Idealist F. H. Bradley, the book, which contains four parts (on metaphysics, the will, the moral ideal and progress, and the application of moral philosophy to the guidance of conduct), was published posthumously in 1883. Like other Idealists, Green criticised empiricism for creating an unnecessary dualism between thought and the real.

A History of Aesthetic
  • Bernard Bosanquet
  • Published online:
    05 November 2012
    Print publication:
    08 December 2011
    First published in:
    1892
  • After more than ten years teaching ancient Greek history and philosophy at University College, Oxford, the British philosopher and political theorist Bernard Bosanquet (1848–1923) resigned from his post to spend more time writing. He was particularly interested in contemporary social theory, but he was also concerned with philosophical questions about art and aesthetics. In this area, Bosanquet had been influenced by William Morris (1834–96) and John Ruskin (1819–1900), as well as the German philosopher Hegel (1770–1831), and their ideas underlie this book, published in 1892. Bosanquet considered aesthetic theory to be a branch of philosophy, and this work focuses on the evolution of theories about beauty. He begins by considering influential ancient Greek and Roman concepts before seeking out the aesthetic consciousness of the middle ages. The latter part of the book is concerned with theories from eighteenth- and nineteenth-century philosophers.

The English Utilitarians
  • Volume 2, James Mill
  • Leslie Stephen
  • Published online:
    05 November 2012
    Print publication:
    01 December 2011
    First published in:
    1900
  • Leslie Stephen (1832–1904), author, literary critic, social commentator and the first editor of the Dictionary of National Biography, published his two-volume History of English Thought in the Eighteenth Century (also reissued in this series) in 1876. This led him to further investigation and study of utilitarianism, whose proponents believed that human action should be guided by the principle of ensuring the happiness of the greatest number of people. While working on many other projects, especially the Dictionary, and haunted by domestic tragedy in the sudden death of his second wife in 1895, Stephen struggled for two decades with this undertaking, calling it the 'utilitarian bog': the long-awaited three-volume work was finally published in 1900. Volume 2 examines the life and political background of James Mill (1773–1836) whose writings were influential in the dissemination of utilitarianism.

Naturalism and Agnosticism
  • The Gifford Lectures Delivered before the University of Aberdeen in the Years 1896–1898
  • Volume 1
  • James Ward
  • Published online:
    05 November 2012
    Print publication:
    08 December 2011
    First published in:
    1899
  • James Ward (1843–1925) was Professor of Mental Philosophy and Logic at the University of Cambridge. First published in 1899, this two-volume work consists of his Gifford Lectures, delivered between 1896 and 1898, in which he criticises Naturalism (the belief that all phenomena are governed by the laws of science, and that the supernatural cannot exist), and Agnosticism (the belief that the existence of spiritual phenomena cannot be proved or disproved), in favour of Idealism, in which spiritual and non-material phenomena are central to human experience. The lectures in Volume 1 set Naturalism and Agnosticism within the context of the Mechanical Theory, arguing against its claim that experience can be fully described in terms of mechanical concepts such as motion, energy and force. Exploring the ideas of prominent thinkers such as Newton, Huxley and Spencer, these thought-provoking discussions continue to inform and evoke debate among philosophers and natural scientists.

Collected Essays
  • Volume 4, Science and the Hebrew Tradition
  • Thomas Henry Huxley
  • Published online:
    05 November 2012
    Print publication:
    29 December 2011
    First published in:
    1893
  • Known as 'Darwin's Bulldog', the biologist Thomas Henry Huxley (1825–95) was a tireless supporter of the evolutionary theories of his friend Charles Darwin. Huxley also made his own significant scientific contributions, and he was influential in the development of science education despite having had only two years of formal schooling. He established his scientific reputation through experiments on aquatic life carried out during a voyage to Australia while working as an assistant surgeon in the Royal Navy; ultimately he became President of the Royal Society (1883–5). Throughout his life Huxley struggled with issues of faith, and he coined the term 'agnostic' to describe his beliefs. This nine-volume collection of Huxley's essays, which he edited and published in 1893–4, demonstrates the wide range of his intellectual interests. In Volume 4, Huxley turns to the issue of faith and science, examining the apparent conflict between theology and evolution.

Collected Essays
  • Volume 9, Evolution and Ethics
  • Thomas Henry Huxley
  • Published online:
    05 November 2012
    Print publication:
    29 December 2011
    First published in:
    1894
  • Known as 'Darwin's Bulldog', the biologist Thomas Henry Huxley (1825–95) was a tireless supporter of the evolutionary theories of his friend Charles Darwin. Huxley also made his own significant scientific contributions, and he was influential in the development of science education despite having had only two years of formal schooling. He established his scientific reputation through experiments on aquatic life carried out during a voyage to Australia while working as an assistant surgeon in the Royal Navy; ultimately he became President of the Royal Society (1883–5). Throughout his life Huxley struggled with issues of faith, and he coined the term 'agnostic' to describe his beliefs. This nine-volume collection of Huxley's essays, which he edited and published in 1893–4, demonstrates the wide range of his intellectual interests. Volume 9 includes lectures delivered at Oxford University on the relationship between scientific thought and ethical problems.

The Presuppositions of Critical History
  • F. H. Bradley
  • Published online:
    05 November 2012
    Print publication:
    08 December 2011
    First published in:
    1874
  • This work combines two early pamphlets by F. H. Bradley (1846–1924), the foremost philosopher of the British Idealist movement. The first essay, published in 1874, deals with the nature of professional history, and foreshadows some of Bradley's later ideas in metaphysics. He argues that history cannot be subjected to scientific scrutiny because it is not directly available to the senses, meaning that all history writing is inevitably subjective. Though not widely discussed at the time of publication, the pamphlet was influential on historian and philosopher R. G. Collingwood. The second pamphlet is Bradley's critique of Henry Sidgwick's The Methods of Ethics. Sidgwick was the first to propose the paradox of hedonism, which is the idea in ethics that pleasure can only be acquired indirectly. Published in 1877, this work is divided into three parts, treating Sidgwick's definitions, arguments, and his view of ethical science.

Essays on Truth and Reality
  • F. H. Bradley
  • Published online:
    05 November 2012
    Print publication:
    22 December 2011
    First published in:
    1914
  • F. H. Bradley (1846–1924) was the foremost philosopher of the British Idealist school, which came to prominence in the second half of the nineteenth century and remained influential into the first half of the twentieth. Bradley, who was educated at Oxford, and spent his life as a fellow of Merton College, was influenced by Hegel, and also reacted against utilitarianism. He was recognised during his lifetime as one of the greatest intellectuals of his generation and was the first philosopher to receive the Order of Merit, in 1924. This collection of some of Bradley's most important journal articles was first published in 1914. He examines coherence and identity theories of truth, and discusses pragmatism and radical empiricism. The book contains extensive discussion of the work of Bertrand Russell and William James, while other essays cover a range of different subjects such as faith, memory, error and God.

The English Utilitarians
  • Volume 3, John Stuart Mill
  • Leslie Stephen
  • Published online:
    05 November 2012
    Print publication:
    01 December 2011
    First published in:
    1900
  • Leslie Stephen (1832–1904), author, literary critic, social commentator and the first editor of the Dictionary of National Biography, published his two-volume History of English Thought in the Eighteenth Century (also reissued in this series) in 1876. This led him to further investigation and study of utilitarianism, whose proponents believed that human action should be guided by the principle of ensuring the happiness of the greatest number of people. While working on many other projects, especially the Dictionary, and haunted by domestic tragedy in the sudden death of his second wife in 1895, Stephen struggled for two decades with this undertaking, calling it the 'utilitarian bog': the long-awaited three-volume work was finally published in 1900. Volume 3 examines John Stuart Mill (1806–73), the son of James Mill, philosopher, economist and a proponent of utilitarianism who was influential in the development of political liberalism.

Page 4 of 6