Ideas and mechanism : essays on early modern philosophy

545 Pages·1999·26.21 MB·English

by  Gottfried Wilhelm

Ideas and Mechanism

Ideas and Mechanism
ESSAYS ON
EARLY MODERN PHILOSOPHY
MARGARET DAULER WILSON
P R I N C E T O N U N I V E R S I T Y P R E S S
P R I N C E T O N , NEW J E R S E Y
Copynght © 1999 by Princeton University Press
Published by Pnnceton University Press, 41 William Street, Pnnceton, New Jersey 08540
In the United Kingdom. Princeton University Press, Chichester, West Sussex
All Rights Resened
Portions of this book have been previously published m slightly different versions
A list of sources and acknowledgments appears at the back of the book.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Wilson, Margaret Dauler.
Ideas and mechanism : essays on early modern philosophy / by
Margaret Dauler Wilson.
p. cm
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-691-00470-6 (cloth alk. paper). — ISBN 0-691-00471-4
(pbk. alk. paper)
1. Philosophy, Modern 2. Descartes, Rene, 1596-1650.
3. Berkeley, George, 1685-1753. 4 Leibniz, Gottfried Wilhelm.
Freiherr von. 1646-1716. I. Title.
B791 W53 1999 190'9Ό32—dc21 98-35153 ClP
This book has been composed in Times Roman
The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements
of ANSI/NISO Z39 48-1992 (R 1997) (Permanence of Paper)
httpV/pup.pnnceton edu
Printed m the United States of America
1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2
1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2
(pbk.)
• FOR EMMETT •

•
CONTENTS •
PREFACE
xi
EDITIONS AND ABBREVIATIONS xv
CHAPTER I
Skepticism without Indubitability
3
CHAPTER 2
Descartes on Sense and "Resemblance"
10
CHAPTER 3
Descartes on the Perception of Primary Qualities 26
CHAPTER 4
Descartes on the Origin of Sensation 41
CHAPTER 5
Descartes on the Representationality of Sensation 69
CHAPTER 6
Descartes; The Epistemological Argument for Mind-Body
Distinctness 84
CHAPTER 7
True and Immutable Natures 94
CHAPTER 8
Can I Be the Cause of My Idea of the World? (Descartes on the
Infinite and Indefinite) 108
CHAPTER 9
Objects, Ideas, and "Minds"; Comments on Spinoza's Theory
of Mind 126
CHAPTER 10
Spinoza's Causal Axiom (Ethics I, Axiom 4) 141
CHAPTER 11
Infinite Understanding, Scientia intuiliva, and Ethics 1.16 166
CHAPTER 12
"For They Do Not Agree in Nature with Us": Spinoza on the
Lower Animals 178
CHAPTER 13
Superadded Properties: The Limits of Mechanism in Locke 196
viii C O N T E N T S ·
CHAPTER 14
Discussion: Superadded Properties: A Reply to M. R. Ayers 209
CHAPTER 15
Did Berkeley Completely Misunderstand the Basis of the
Primary-Secondary Quality Distinction in Locke? 215
CHAPTER 16
Berkeley on the Mind-Dependence of Colors 229
CHAPTER 17
Berkeley and the Essence of the Corpuscularians 243
CHAPTER 18
The Issue of "Common Sensibles" in Berkeley's New Theory
of Vision 257
CHAPTER 19
Kant and "The Dogmatic Idealism of Berkeley" 276
CHAPTER 20
The "Phenomenalisms" of Berkeley and Kant 294
CHAPTER 21
The "Phenomenalisms" of Leibniz and Berkeley 306
CHAPTER 22
Confused Ideas 322
CHAPTER 23
Confused vs. Distinct Perception in Leibniz: Consciousness,
Representation, and God's Mind 336
CHAPTER 24
Leibniz and Locke on "First Truths" 353
CHAPTER 25
Leibniz: Self-Consciousness and Immortality in the Paris Notes
and After 373
CHAPTER 26
Leibniz and Materialsm 388
CHAPTER 27
Possible Gods 407
CHAPTER 28
Leibniz's Dynamics and Contingency in Nature 421
CHAPTER 29
Compossibility and Law 442
• C O N T E N T S ' 1X
CHAPTER 30
History of Philosophy in Philosophy Today; and the Case of the
Sensible Qualities 455
CHAPTER 31
Animal Ideas 495
SOURCES AND ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 513
INDEX 515