The Works of Thomas Reid. Preface, notes and supplementary dissertations, by William Hamilton. Volume 1

The Works of Thomas Reid #1

by w/o author

This Elibron Classics title is a reprint of the original edition published by Maclachlan and Stewart; Longman, Green, Longman, Roberts, and Green in Edinburgh; London, 1872. This book is in English. This book contains 540 pages.

Genres: Philosophy, Empiricism

540 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1872

Reviews

[Douglas Wilson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really informative. Reid was the road not taken, and subsequent centuries paid a heavy price for it. The founder of the sturdy Scottish Common Sense philosophy, Reid attempted to transplant plain sense into the vagaries of philosophy. Unfortunately, the patient rejected the donated organ.

[Ronstoppablerlc · Rating 5 out of 5]

(I actually skipped the first 100 pages or so of this volume, as it included introductory material and a bunch of letters. I was reading secondary literature on Reid concurrently with this book, so I thought the extra material was superfluous.)

There is an awful lot in here that strikes me as right on the money. Reid's attacks on the Way of Ideas and skepticism seem correct, as does his understanding of abstraction and conception. Certainly more problematic is his argument against Hume's argument against the Argument from Design. Also, Reid's understanding of the veridical nature of our senses and faculties depends (he clearly thinks) on their being designed, and it is not obvious how this can easily be modified to yield the same results with a basis in natural selection. If Reid's position cannot be so modified, then a large part of his project would be weakened. So, it seems to me that a lot depends upon that ol' Argument from Design.

[Dustin Hellberg · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent material obscured by a terrible layout. Same for both volumes.