The Philosophy Of Reid: As Contained In The Inquiry Into The Human Mind On The Principles Of Common Sense

by Thomas Reid

The Philosophy of As Contained in the Inquiry into the Human Mind on the Principles of Common Sense is a book written by Thomas Reid in 1892. The book is a comprehensive exploration of Reid's philosophy, which is centered on the idea that common sense is a reliable guide to understanding the world around us. Reid argues that our understanding of the world is based on our innate knowledge of certain principles and concepts that are self-evident and cannot be doubted. These principles include the existence of the external world, the existence of other minds, and the reliability of our senses. Reid's philosophy is a response to the skepticism of his time, which questioned the validity of knowledge and the ability of the human mind to understand the world. Reid argues that skepticism is based on a misunderstanding of the nature of knowledge and that common sense is a more reliable guide to understanding the world than abstract reasoning or philosophical speculation. The book is divided into several sections, each of which explores a different aspect of Reid's philosophy. The first section deals with the nature of knowledge and the role of common sense in understanding the world. The second section explores the relationship between the mind and the external world, arguing that the mind is not a passive receiver of information but an active participant in the process of understanding. The third section deals with the nature of perception and the reliability of our senses. Reid argues that our senses are a reliable source of information about the world and that our perception of the world is not distorted by our mental processes. The fourth section explores the nature of consciousness and the relationship between the mind and the body. Overall, The Philosophy of Reid is an important work in the history of philosophy, as it provides a unique perspective on the nature of knowledge and the role of common sense in understanding the world. It is a must-read for anyone interested in the history of philosophy or the nature of knowledge.This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of the old original and may contain some imperfections such as library marks and notations. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment for protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature in affordable, high quality, modern editions, that are true to their original work.

380 pages, Paperback

Published September 10, 2010

About the author

The Reverend Thomas Reid FRSE, a religiously trained Scottish philosopher and a contemporary of David Hume, was the founder of the Scottish School of Common Sense and played an integral role in the Scottish Enlightenment. The early part of his life was spent in Aberdeen, Scotland, where he created the 'Wise Club' (a literary-philosophical association) and graduated from the University of Aberdeen. He was given a professorship at King's College, Aberdeen in 1752, where he wrote An Inquiry Into the Human Mind on the Principles of Common Sense (published in 1764). Shortly afterwards he was given the prestigious Professorship of Moral Philosophy at the University of Glasgow when he was called to replace Adam Smith. He resigned from this position in 1781.

Reid believed that common sense (in a special philosophical sense of sensus communis) is, or at least should be, at the foundation of all philosophical inquiry. He disagreed with Hume, who asserted that we can never know what an external world consists of as our knowledge is limited to the ideas in the mind, and George Berkeley, who asserted that the external world is merely ideas in the mind. By contrast, Reid claimed that the foundations upon which our sensus communis are built justify our belief that there is an external world.