Of Liberty and Necessity: The Free Will Debate in Eighteenth-Century British Philosophy

by James A. Harris

Overview

The eighteenth century was a time of brilliant philosophical innovation in Britain. In Of Liberty and Necessity James A. Harris presents the first comprehensive account of the period's discussion of what remains a central problem of philosophy, the question of the freedom of the will. He offers new interpretations of contributions to the free will debate made by canonical figures such as Locke, Hume, Edwards, and Reid, and also discusses in detail the arguments of some less familiar writers. Harris puts the eighteenth-century debate about the will and its freedom in the context of the period's concern with applying what Hume calls the "experimental method of reasoning" to the human mind. His book will be of substantial interest to historians of philosophy and anyone concerned with the free will problem.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780199268603
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Publication date:	08/11/2005
Series:	Oxford Philosophical Monographs
Pages:	280
Product dimensions:	9.21(w) x 6.14(h) x 0.69(d)

About the Author

University of St Andrews

Table of Contents

Introduction: From Locke to Dugald Stewart1. Locke's chapter 'Of Power' and its eighteenth-century reciprocation2. King, Clarke, Collins3. Hume's reconciling project4. Kames's hypothesis5. Jonathan Edwards against Arminianism6. The bare authority of feeling: James Beattie in context7. Hartley, Tucker, Priestley8. Science and freedom in Thomas Reid9. Liberty and necessity after ReidPostscript: The nineteenth century and afterwards

Editorial Reviews

"...deepens our understanding of the history of eighteenth-century British accounts of freedom by placing the well known accounts of Locke, Hume, and Reid in a richer context than is usually considered by historians of early modern philosophy." — Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews

From the Publisher