Readings in Epistemology: From Aquinas, Bacon, Galileo, Descartes, Locke, Hume, Kant

472 Pages·1993·1.02 MB·English

by  Vincent G. Potter

Readings in Epistemology : From Aquinas,
title: Bacon, Galileo, Descartes, Locke, Berkeley,
Hume, Kant
author: Potter, Vincent G.
publisher: Fordham University Press
isbn10 | asin: 0823214931
print isbn13: 9780823214938
ebook isbn13: 9780585195551
language: English
subject Knowledge, Theory of.
publication date: 1993
lcc: BD161.R342 1993eb
ddc: 121
subject: Knowledge, Theory of.
Page iii
Readings in Epistemology
from Aquinas, Bacon, Galileo, Descartes, Locke,
Berkeley, Hume, Kant
by
Vincent G. Potter
Fordham University Press
New York
1993
Page iv
Copyright 1993 by Fordham University Press
All rights reserved
LC 92-45079
ISBN 0-8232-1493-1 (clothbound)
ISBN 0-8232-1492-3 (paperback)
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Readings in epistemology: from Aquinas, Bacon, Galileo, Descartes,
Locke, Berkeley, Hume, Kant/introduction and selection by
Vincent G. Potter. 2nd ed. rev.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references.
ISBN 0-8232-1493-1. ISBN 0-8232-1492-3 (pbk.)
1. Knowledge, Theory of. I. Potter, Vincent G.
BD161.R342 1993
121 dc20 92-45079
CIP
Printed in the United States of America
Page v
To
MY TEACHERS
who taught me to read
the great philosophers
respectfully
but critically
Page vii
Contents
Preface ix
Introduction xi
1. Francis Bacon 1
From Novum Organum 3
2. Galileo Galilei 13
From The Assayer 15
3. René Descartes 19
From A Discourse on Method 21
From Meditations on the First Philosophy 35
4. John Locke 55
From An Essay Concerning Human Understanding 57
5. George Berkeley 109
From A Treatise Concerning the Principles of Human 111
Knowledge
6. David Hume 129
From An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding 131
7. Immanuel Kant 155
From Prolegomena to Any Future Metaphysics 158
From Critique of Pure Reason 188
From An Answer to the Question: What is 221
Enlightenment?
Appendix: St. Thomas Aquinas 229
From Summa Theologiae 232
Page ix
Preface
THIS COLLECTION OF READINGS was gathered to fulfill the
requirements of a specific course taught at Fordham College, namely,
a core course, required of all sophomores, in epistemology. The aims
of the course were not only to acquaint the students with the major
issues in the philosophy of knowledge, but also to introduce them to
that period of European philosophical thought known as the
Enlightenment. The authors presented here are mainly from the
British Empiricists, with the exceptions of Descartes, "Father of
modern philosophy," and Kant, the great critical synthesizer. This in
no way implies that the great Rationalists of the period (Spinoza and
Leibniz) are not important. The choice represents a preference for
what can be covered in the limited time available within a single
semester. In some ways the British Empiricists are easier for
beginners to grasp; they have a peculiar inner logic of development
(from Locke to Berkeley to Hume); and, finally, they have had great
influence on so much of contemporary Anglo-American philosophy
(for better or for worse!).
I wish to thank Dr. Vincent Colapietro, my colleague in the Fordham
Department of Philosophy, for his helpful suggestions in selecting
texts to be included in this volume. Besides certain passages from
Locke, Hume, and Kant, he recommended including something from
Aquinas, Bacon, and Galileo. The short piece from Aquinas included
in the Appendix makes an important point about the nature of signs as
they function in cognition: namely, that they are not usually what is
known but that by which or in which something is known. And this is
in contrast to what seem to be the representationalist views of some
Enlightenment thinkers. The excerpts from Galileo and Bacon
introduce the influence of empirical science in shaping the
Enlightenment and also make the famous distinction between primary
and secondary sensibles which plays such an important role in Locke.
I have added no footnotes and have provided Study Questions at the
end of each selection simply to help focus the students' attention on
the main ideas of each section. The Introduction attempts to situate
these philosophers in the broader
Page x
historical context of Europe from the sixteenth through the eighteenth
centuries. At the beginning of each author's selections, there is a brief
biographical sketch and a very brief list of suggested readings. The
teacher no doubt has his own preferred references adapted to the
group he is teaching. Finally, I have provided no critical commentary
or evaluation, with the exception of some brief and very general
remarks concerning (erroneous) assumptions which the Rationalists
and Empiricists of the period held in common. I leave further
elaboration (or contradiction) to the teacher. Again, more specific
criticism is best left to each one's own particular emphasis and point
of view.
In the situation in which these readings are a supplement to a regular
course in epistemology, the teacher may find that covering them all is
too much for this or that particular group. At Fordham the faculty
decided that this course should include at least Descartes, Hume, and
Kant.
VINCENT G. POTTER
FORDHAM UNIVERSITY
Page xi
Introduction
THE PERIOD FROM DESCARTES TO KANT (from the end of the
sixteenth to the end of the eighteenth centuries) is sometimes called
the "classical" period of modern European philosophy. It extends from
the close of the Renaissance through the Age of the Enlightenment.
Usually the Enlightenment is said to have taken place in the
eighteenth century. With the exception of Descartes (who died in
1650), each of the philosophers included in our readings lived during
the eighteenth century and all (including Descartes) had decisive
influence on the Enlightenment.
Whether one ultimately judges the name "enlightenment" to be
accurate, whimsical, or ironic will depend upon one's judgment about
that period's contribution to the advancement of culture, politics, and
society. More generally, the philosopher must ask whether and to what
extent the new "light" advanced wisdom and mankind's love of it. In
any case, regardless of what history or historians or we ourselves may
think of that era, those who lived during it considered themselves
"enlightened" (by what and by whom needs to be considered later)
and "liberated'' (from what and for what might also bear
consideration).
During those two hundred years, Modern European philosophy was
formed. Descartes is usually credited with beginning the "modern"
philosophical movement of which the Enlightenment schools of
Rationalism and Empiricism are the major expression. What the
differences between these schools were will become evident in the
course of our reading. What may slip by unnoticed is what their
similarities were their common assumptions, substantive and
methodological.