An Enquiry concerning Human Understanding

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Broadview Press, Aug 26, 2011 - Philosophy - 312 pages

Over a series of elegantly written, engaging essays, the Enquiry examines the experiential and psychological sources of meaning and knowledge, the foundations of reasoning about matters that lie beyond the scope of our sensory experience and memory, the nature of belief, and the limitations of our knowledge. The positions Hume takes on these topics have been described as paradigmatically empiricist, sceptical, and naturalist and have been widely influential and even more widely decried.

The introduction to this edition discusses the Enquiry’s origin, evolution, and critical reception, while appendices provide examples of contemporary responses to Hume.

 

Contents

From George Campbell A Dissertation on Miracles 1762
205
From Thomas Reid AnInquiry into the Human Mind on the Principles of Common Sense1764 and Essays on the Intellectual Powers of Man 1785
217
From James Beattie An Essay on the Nature and Immutability of Truth 1774
263
From Immanuel Kant Prolegomena to Any Future Metaphysics 1784 and The Critique of Pure Reason 17811787
277

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About the author (2011)

Lorne Falkenstein is Professor of Philosophy at the University of Western Ontario, and has published widely on eighteenth-century philosophy.

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