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The God of Spinoza: A Philosophical Study. By Richard Mason (review)The European Legacy 7 (1): 115-115. 2002.
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4Hume on Testimony Concerning MiraclesIn Peter Millican (ed.), Reading Hume on Human Understanding: Essays on the First Enquiry, Oxford University Press. 2001.
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11Encyclopedia of empiricism (edited book)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
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1Hey, What's the Big Idea? Berkeley and Hume on Extension, Local Conjunction, and the Immateriality of the SoulIn Stefan Storrie (ed.), Berkeley's Three Dialogues: New Essays, Oxford University Press. pp. 191-204. 2018.
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1Teleology in Spinoza and Early Modern RationalismIn 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
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Reason, Normativity, and Hume’s “Title Principle”In Paul Russell (ed.), The Oxford Handbook of David Hume, Oxford University Press. 2016.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
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35Mind and Morality: An Examination of Hume’s Moral Psychology (review)Philosophical Review 110 (1): 132-134. 2001.In the introduction to his Mind and Morality: An Examination of Hume’s Moral Psychology, John Bricke traces the remarkable lack of agreement among commentators concerning the nature of Hume’s moral philosophy to two main failings: insufficient attention to “the foundations, in his philosophy of mind, on which Hume builds when constructing his theory of morality” and “the practice of taking his theory of morality as a patchwork of severally brilliant and provocative, but essentially unintegrated …Read more
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316Hume’s naturalistic theory of representationSynthese 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
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61Spinoza’s Metaphysics: Substance and Thought by Yitzhak Y. Melamed (review)Journal of Philosophy 111 (11): 641-647. 2014.
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23Hume's Defence of Causal Inference (review) (review)Journal of the History of Philosophy 38 (1): 126-128. 2000.In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:Reviewed by:Hume's Defence of Causal InferenceDon GarrettFred Wilson. Hume's Defence of Causal Inference. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1997. Pp. xii + 439. Cloth, $80.00.According to its introduction, this book "deals solely with the problem of induction [and] solely with the issue of whether Hume is a sceptic with regard to causation and scientific reason" (p. 6). Wilson concludes that although Hume rejects "objective" nece…Read more
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66Representation and the Mind-Body Problem in Spinoza (review)Philosophy and Phenomenological Research 61 (1): 223-226. 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
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43Owen on Humean ReasonHume Studies 26 (2): 291-303. 2000.This article is a critical discussion of David Owen's book, _Hume's Reason. Owen rightly emphasizes (i) that an understanding of Hume's theory of reasoning is essential to understanding his philosophy and (ii) that an understanding of early modern antiformalism in logic is crucial to understanding Hume's theory of reasoning. Against most commentators, Owen and I agree that Hume's famous conclusion about inductive inferences, i.e., that they are "not determin'd by reason"--is a causal rather a no…Read more
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154What's True about Hume's 'True Religion'?Journal of Scottish Philosophy 10 (2): 199-220. 2012.Despite his well-known criticisms of popular religion, Hume refers in seemingly complimentary terms to ‘true religion’; in Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion, his character Philo goes so far as to express ‘veneration for’ it. This paper addresses three questions. First, did Hume himself really approve of something that he called ‘true religion’? Second, what did he mean by calling it ‘true’? Third, what did he take it to be? By appeal to some of his key doctrines about causation and probabili…Read more
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32Loeb’s “Standard” Questions about Hume’s Concept of Probable TruthHume Studies 40 (2): 279-300. 2014.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
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40HumeRoutledge. 2015.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
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52Spinoza: The Enduring Questions (review)Journal of the History of Philosophy 34 (3): 460-461. 1996.460 JOURNAL OF THE HISTORY OF PHILOSOPHY 34:3 JULY 1996 Graeme Hunter, editor. Spinoza: The Enduring Questions. Toronto: University of To- ronto Press, 1994. Pp. xi + 182. Cloth, $70.00. This volume of eight essays is dedicated to the memory of the late David Savan, and originated from a conference held in his honor prior to his untimely death. The lead essay is by Savan himself, and most of the other essays acknowledge the influence of his work. The first three essays address not only an "endur…Read more
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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.
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23Spinoza, by Alan Donagan (review)Philosophy and Phenomenological Research 51 (4): 952-955. 1991.
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16Part of Nature: Self-Knowledge in Spinoza's "Ethics" (review)Journal of the History of Philosophy 34 (2): 299-301. 1996.BOOK REVIEWS ~99 edge of Hebrew and Hebrew texts, from encounters with Iberian Jews, and from polemical Christian concerns. The changing situation within German Christendom greatly influenced the way Jews, their history, and their customs were seen. Arthur Williamson, an expert in Scottish intellectual history, treats a somewhat amazing phenomenon: the Scots from the Reformation onward saw themselves as Jews, and developed a Judaized political history. From sometime in the late Middle Ages, the …Read more
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19Mind and Morality (review)Philosophical Review 110 (1): 132-134. 2001.In the introduction to his Mind and Morality: An Examination of Hume’s Moral Psychology, John Bricke traces the remarkable lack of agreement among commentators concerning the nature of Hume’s moral philosophy to two main failings: insufficient attention to “the foundations, in his philosophy of mind, on which Hume builds when constructing his theory of morality” and “the practice of taking his theory of morality as a patchwork of severally brilliant and provocative, but essentially unintegrated …Read more
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1Truth, method, and correspondence in Spinoza and LeibnizStudia Spinozana: An International and Interdisciplinary Series 6 (n/a): 13. 1990.
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201Hume's self-doubts about personal identityPhilosophical 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
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15Chapter 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.
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234Spinoza's "ontological" argumentPhilosophical 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
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38The literary arts in Hume's science of the fancyKriterion: Journal of Philosophy 44 (108): 161-179. 2003.Philosophers have long disagreed about whether poetry, drama, and other literary arts are important to philosophy and among those who believe that they are important, explanations of that importance have differed greatly. This paper aims to explain and illustrate some of the reasons why Hume found literature to be an important topic for philosophy and philosophers. Philosophy, he holds, can help to explain general and specific literary phenomena, to ground the science of criticism, and to sugges…Read more
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361Reasons to act and believe: naturalism and rational justification in Hume’s philosophical projectPhilosophical Studies 132 (1): 1-16. 2007.Is Hume a naturalist? Does he regard all or nearly all beliefs and actions as rationally unjustified? In order to settle these questions, it is necessary to examine their key terms and to understand the character-especially the normative character-of Hume's philosophical project. This paper argues that Hume is a naturalist-and, in particular, both a moral and an epistemic naturalist-in quite robust ways; and that Hume can properly regard many actions and beliefs as "rationally justified" in seve…Read more
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43Priority and Separability in Hume’s EmpiricismArchiv für Geschichte der Philosophie 67 (3): 270-288. 1985.
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