•  54
    Encyclopedia of empiricism (edited book)
    with Edward M. Barbanell
    Greenwood Press. 1997.
    Featuring more than 150 articles by more than 70 leading scholars, this is the first encyclopedia devoted to empiricism. The _Encyclopedia of Empiricism_ serves four main purposes. First, it provides a convenient source for scholars and students seeking information on particular figures, topics, or doctrines, specifically in their relation to empiricism as an historical movement or to empiricism as a broader tendency of thought. Because each entry contains a brief bibliography of primary and sec…Read more
  •  1
    Berkeley and Hume share a commitment to the existence of extended ideas or perceptions. This essay first examines how Berkeley and Hume differ from such predecessors as Descartes and Locke in this respect and then focuses on the nature and consequences of one problem that their distinctive shared view raises: namely, how one mind can include both extended and unextended beings. Hume does not ultimately solve this problem to his own satisfaction. Berkeley’s original and distinctive theory of imma…Read more
  •  142
    Teleology in Spinoza and Early Modern Rationalism
    In Rocco J. Gennaro & Charles Huenemann (eds.), New essays on the rationalists, Oxford University Press. 1999.
    This chapter seeks to establish that Spinoza accepts the legitimacy of many teleological explanations; that in two important respects, Leibniz's view of teleology is not more, and perhaps even less, Aristotleian than Descartes's; and that among Descartes, Spinoza, and Leibniz, it is Spinoza who holds the view of teleology closest to that of Aristotle. The arguments for derive from examinations of Spinoza's doctrine of conatus, critical analysis of Jonathan Bennett's proposed grounds for interpre…Read more
  •  86
    A Small Tincture of Pyrrhonism
    In Walter Sinnott-Armstrong (ed.), Pyrrhonian skepticism, Oxford University Press. pp. 68--98. 2004.
    This essay distinguishes varieties of skepticism along six dimensions. It argues that Hume is unmitigated in his rational support skepticism and in his prescriptive skepticism about certain “high and distant enquiries”, but mitigated in his general practising skepticism and in his general epistemic merit skepticism. Hume’s skepticism must be seen as mitigated in these ways in order to solve four central puzzles for Hume scholars.
  •  199
    Spinoza's Conatus Argument
    In Olli I. Koistinen & John I. Biro (eds.), Spinoza: Metaphysical Themes, Oup Usa. pp. 127-58. 2002.
    This essay contends that Spinoza’s argument for the conatus doctrine does not commit any of the five fallacies of equivocation. The key to a better understanding of his argument lies in a Spinoza’s “theory of inherence” — that is, his theory of what it is to be “in” something. Spinoza’s conatus argument is a valid demonstration from Spinozistic premises about inherence, conception, causation, and related matters. These premises reflect his deep commitment to a rigorous Principle of Sufficient Re…Read more
  •  112
    David Hume’s “Title Principle,” as it has come to be called, is a specification of the normative scope of reason: “Where reason is lively, and mixes itself with some propensity, it ought to be assented to. Where it does not, it never can have any title to operate on us.” This chapter seeks to answer four central questions about the principle. First, what does Hume mean by “reason” in it? Second, what particular kinds of beliefs does it mandate or disallow? Third, what kind of normativity is expr…Read more
  •  85
    Priority and Separability in Hume’s Empiricism
    Archiv für Geschichte der Philosophie 67 (3): 270-288. 1985.
  •  311
    A Very Brief Summary of Hume’s Morality
    Hume Studies 34 (2): 253-256. 2008.
    Hume's Morality: Feeling and Fabrication 1 is a most useful and agreeable book. It contains a wealth of analysis, argument, and insight about many of the most central elements of the moral theory of one of the greatest moral philosophers in human history: David Hume. The book is well-conceived, well-argued, stimulating, informative, clear, precise, thorough, balanced, nuanced, and ingenious, while evincing—especially in its concluding chapter, when considering possible extensions of Hume's theor…Read more
  •  7
    Truth, Method, and Correspondence in Spinoza and Leibniz in Spinoza and Leibniz
    Studia Spinozana: An International and Interdisciplinary Series 6 (n/a): 13-43. 1990.
  •  103
    Benedict De Spinoza: An Introduction
    Idealistic Studies 22 (3): 246-246. 1992.
    Henry Allison’s Benedict de Spinoza was a clear, concise, and reliable introduction to a broad range of topics in Spinoza’s philosophy. This revised and retitled edition preserves those virtues while reflecting important developments since 1974, including Edwin Curley’s superb translations of the Ethics and the earlier works, and important books on Spinoza by Martial, Gueroult, R. J. Delahunty, and Jonathan Bennett. Of the book’s seven chapters, it is primarily the three central ones—those deali…Read more
  •  393
    Spinoza's "ontological" argument
    Philosophical Review 88 (2): 198-223. 1979.
    I argue that spinoza's ontological argument is successful when it is understood to have two premises: (i) it is possible for god to exist, (ii) it is necessary that, if god exists, he necessarily does. the argument is valid in s5. spinoza is in a position to establish the second premise of the argument on the basis of his definitions and axioms. the first premise was assumed to be true, but, as leibniz noted, it must be established for the conclusion of the argument to be forthcoming. this is on…Read more
  •  139
    Aaron V. Garrett, Meaning in Spinoza's Method (review)
    Philosophical Review 118 (2): 241-244. 2009.
  •  393
    Hume’s naturalistic theory of representation
    Synthese 152 (3): 301-319. 2006.
    Hume is a naturalist in many different respects and about many different topics; this paper argues that he is also a naturalist about intentionality and representation. It does so in the course of answering four questions about his theory of mental representation: (1) Which perceptions represent? (2) What can perceptions represent? (3) Why do perceptions represent at all? (4) Howdo perceptions represent what they do? It appears that, for Hume, all perceptions except passions can represent; and t…Read more
  •  105
    Causal empiricism and mental events
    Philosophical Studies 49 (3). 1986.
    ConclusionThe present paradox illustrates a deep interconnection between two superficially unrelated metaphysical problems: the nature of mental events and the analysis of causation. I have not tried to resolve the paradox, but only to explain it and to describe the available tactics for resolving it. Although I have also mentioned some of the various considerations that might be advanced in the pursuit of these tactics, I do not claim to have canvassed all such considerations. Since the list of…Read more
  •  56
    The Cambridge companion to Spinoza (edited book)
    Cambridge University Press. 2021.
    In many ways, Benedict (Baruch) de Spinoza appears to be a contradictory figure in the history of philosophy. From the beginning, he has been notorious as an "atheist" who seeks to substitute Nature for a personal deity; yet he was also, in Novalis's famous description, "the God-intoxicated man." He was an uncompromising necessitarian and causal determinist; yet his ethical ideal was to become a "free man." He maintained that the human mind and the human body are identical; yet he also insisted …Read more
  •  92
    It is an honor to receive such extensive comments from Louis Loeb, whose work I admire and from whom I have learned much. In particular, his landmark 2002 book, Stability and Justification in Hume’s “Treatise” and his 2010 collection of essays, Reflection and the Stability of Belief: Essays on Descartes, Hume, and Reid are essential reading for anyone who wants to understand early modern epistemology. Some of what I have learned from him is reflected in the book on which he is now commenting whi…Read more
  •  97
    Hume
    Routledge. 2014.
    Beginning with an overview of Hume's life and work, Don Garrett introduces in clear and accessible style the central aspects of Hume's thought. These include Hume's lifelong exploration of the human mind; his theories of inductive inference and causation; skepticism and personal identity; moral and political philosophy; aesthetics; and philosophy of religion. The final chapter considers the influence and legacy of Hume's thought today. Throughout, Garrett draws on and explains many of Hume's cen…Read more
  • Benedict de Spinoza, Ethics (1677)
    In Jorge J. E. Gracia, Gregory M. Reichberg & Bernard N. Schumacher (eds.), The Classics of Western Philosophy: A Reader's Guide, Wiley-blackwell. pp. 245. 2003.
  •  92
    Representation and the Mind-Body Problem in Spinoza
    Philosophy and Phenomenological Research 61 (1): 223-225. 2000.
    Michael Della Rocca’s marvelous book is devoted to Spinoza’s treatment of two topics—mental representation and the relation of mind to body—that are central to much of Spinoza’s philosophy. Della Rocca has clearly read Spinoza with extraordinary care, sensitivity, and insight. His writing is remarkably lucid, his argumentation is almost always compelling, and his care in spelling out exactly what he thinks does and does not follow—both from Spinoza’s philosophical arguments and from his own inte…Read more
  •  275
    Once More into the Labyrinth
    Hume Studies 36 (1): 77-87. 2010.
    P. J. E. Kail's Projection and Realism in Hume's Philosophy is an excellent book, consisting—like Hume's Treatise itself—of three excellent parts. I will comment on one central aspect of its second part: its explanation of the source of the second thoughts that Hume famously expressed, with a frustrating lack of specificity, about his own initial discussion of personal identity in the Treatise.As is well known, Hume holds in the section "Of personal identity" (T 1.4.6) that a self, mind, or pers…Read more
  •  300
    Hume's self-doubts about personal identity
    Philosophical Review 90 (3): 337-358. 1981.
    In this appendix to "a treatise of human nature", Hume expresses dissatisfaction with his own account of personal identity, Claiming that it is "inconsistent." in spite of much recent discussion of the appendix, There has been little agreement either about the reasons for hume's second thoughts or about the philosophical moral to be drawn from them. The present article argues, First, That none of the explanations for his misgivings which have been offered has succeeded in describing a problem wh…Read more
  •  34
    Chapter 10. Should Hume Have Been a Transcendental Idealist?
    In Daniel Garber & Béatrice Longuenesse (eds.), Kant and the Early Moderns, Princeton University Press. pp. 193-208. 2008.