Moral Philosophy from Montaigne to Kant

by Edited by J. B. Schneewind

• ISBN13: 9780521003049
• ISBN10: 0521003040
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2002-12-09
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Summary

This anthology contains excerpts from some thirty-two important seventeenth- and eighteenth-century moral philosophers. Including a substantial introduction and extensive bibliographies, the anthology facilitates the study and teaching of early modern moral philosophy in its crucial formative period. As well as well-known thinkers such as Hobbes, Hume, and Kant, there are excerpts from a wide range of philosophers never previously assembled in one text, such as Grotius, Pufendorf, Nicole, Clarke, Leibniz, Malebranche, Holbach and Paley. Originally issued as a two-volume edition in 1990, the anthology is now re-issued with a new foreword by Professor Schneewind, as a one-volume anthology to serve as a companion to his highly successful history of modern ethics, The Invention of Autonomy. The anthology provides many of the sources discussed in The Invention of Autonomy and taken together the two volumes will be an invaluable resource for the teaching of the history of modern moral philosophy.

Author Biography

J. B. Schneewind is Professor of Philosophy at the Johns Hopkins University

Table of Contents

Preface	xiii
Acknowledgments	xvii
Foreword to the One-Volume Reprint	xix
Introduction	1	(1)
Aims of the Anthology	1	(2)
European Religious Controversies	3	(1)
Saint Augustine and Saint Thomas	4	(3)
Luther and Calvin	7	(3)
Stoicism and Epicureanism	10	(3)
Skepticism	13	(1)
The Classical Republic	14	(2)
Montaigne's Two Attitudes	16	(2)
General Problems for Moral Philosophy	18	(3)
Reworking Natural Law	21	(2)
Intellect and Morality	23	(1)
Epicureans and Egoists	24	(2)
Autonomy and Responsibility	26	(3)
Conclusion	29	(1)
Notes	30	(2)
Bibliography	32	(5)
Prolegomena: Some Questions Raised
Michel de Montaigne	37	(30)
Introduction	37	(1)
Apology for Raymond Sebond	38	(7)
Of Repentance	45	(10)
Of Vanity	55	(1)
Of Physiognomy	56	(3)
Of Experience	59	(3)
Editor's Notes	62	(1)
Further Reading	62	(5)
Part I. Reworking Natural Law
Francisco Suarez	67	(21)
Introduction	67	(1)
On Law and God the Lawgiver	68	(18)
Editor's Notes	86	(1)
Further Reading	86	(2)
Hugo Grotius	88	(23)
Introduction	88	(2)
On the Law of War and Peace	90	(19)
Editor's Notes	109	(1)
Further Reading	110	(1)
Thomas Hobbes	111	(27)
Introduction	111	(1)
Philosophical Rudiments Concerning Government and Society	112	(24)
Editor's Notes	136	(1)
Further Reading	136	(2)
Richard Cumberland	138	(18)
Introduction	138	(2)
A Treatise of the Laws of Nature	140	(14)
Editor's Notes	154	(1)
Further Reading	155	(1)
Samuel Pufendorf	156	(27)
Introduction	156	(2)
On the Duty of Man and Citizen	158	(12)
The Law of Nature and of Nations	170	(11)
Editor's Notes	181	(1)
Further Reading	182	(1)
John Locke	183	(18)
Introduction	183	(1)
An Essay Concerning Human Understanding	184	(10)
The Reasonableness of Christianity	194	(3)
Editor's Notes	197	(1)
Further Reading	197	(4)
Part II. Intellect and Morality
Guillaume Du Vair	201	(15)
Introduction	201	(1)
The Moral Philosophy of the Stoics	202	(13)
Editor's Notes	215	(1)
Further Reading	215	(1)
Rene Descartes	216	(21)
Introduction	216	(2)
Discourse on Method	218	(3)
Principles of Philosophy	221	(3)
Correspondence with Princess Elizabeth and Queen Christina	224	(9)
Replies to Objections	233	(2)
Editor's Notes	235	(1)
Further Reading	235	(2)
Benedict de Spinoza	237	(19)
Introduction	237	(2)
A Treatise on Religion and Politics	239	(7)
Ethics	246	(8)
Editor's Notes	254	(1)
Further Reading	255	(1)
Nicholas Malebranche	256	(19)
Introduction	256	(2)
Treatise of Morality	258	(15)
Editor's Notes	273	(1)
Further Reading	273	(2)
Ralph Cudworth	275	(18)
Introduction	275	(2)
A Treatise Concerning Eternal and Immutable Morality	277	(13)
Editor's Notes	290	(1)
Further Reading	291	(2)
Samuel Clarke	293	(20)
Introduction	293	(2)
A Discourse Concerning the Unchangeable Obligations of Natural Religion	295	(16)
Editor's Notes	311	(1)
Further Reading	312	(1)
Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz	313	(18)
Introduction	313	(2)
The Principles of Nature and of Grace, Based on Reason	315	(3)
On Wisdom	318	(2)
Felicity	320	(2)
Meditation on the Common Concept of Justice	322	(2)
Codex iuris gentium (Praefatio)	324	(3)
The Principles of Pufendorf	327	(2)
Editor's Notes	329	(1)
Further Reading	330	(1)
Christian Wolff	331	(22)
Introduction	331	(2)
Reasonable Thoughts About the Actions of Men, for the Promotion of Their Happiness	333	(15)
Editor's Notes	348	(2)
Further Reading	350	(3)
Part III. Epicureans and Egoists
Pierre Gassendi	353	(16)
Introduction	353	(2)
Three Discourses of Happiness, Virtue, and Liberty	355	(11)
Editor's Notes	366	(1)
Further Reading	367	(2)
Pierre Nicole	369	(19)
Introduction	369	(1)
Of Charity and Self-Love	370	(17)
Editor's Notes	387	(1)
Further Reading	387	(1)
Bernard Mandeville	388	(11)
Introduction	388	(2)
The Fable of the Bees	390	(6)
An Enquiry into the Origin of Honour	396	(2)
Editor's Notes	398	(1)
Further Reading	398	(1)
John Gay	399	(15)
Introduction	399	(1)
Concerning the Fundamental Principle of Virtue or Morality	400	(13)
Editor's Notes	413	(1)
Further Reading	413	(1)
Claude Adrien Helvetius	414	(17)
Introduction	414	(2)
On the Mind	416	(13)
Editor's Notes	429	(1)
Further Reading	430	(1)
Paul Henri Thiry, Baron d'Holbach	431	(15)
Introduction	431	(1)
Universal Morality; or, The Duties of Man, Founded on Nature	432	(5)
System of Nature	437	(8)
Editor's Note	445	(1)
Further Reading	445	(1)
William Paley	446	(14)
Introduction	446	(1)
Moral and Political Philosophy	447	(11)
Editor's Notes	458	(1)
Further Reading	458	(2)
Jeremy Bentham	460	(23)
Introduction	460	(2)
An Introduction to the Principles of Morals and Legislation	462	(13)
Theory of Legislation	475	(4)
Editor's Notes	479	(1)
Further Reading	479	(4)
Part IV. Autonomy and Responsibility
The Earl of Shaftesbury	483	(20)
Introduction	483	(2)
Sensus communis: An Essay on the Freedom of Wit and Humour	485	(1)
Soliloquy; or, Advice to an Author	486	(2)
An Inquiry Concerning Virtue or Merit	488	(13)
Editor's Notes	501	(1)
Further Reading	501	(2)
Francis Hutcheson	503	(22)
Introduction	503	(2)
An Inquiry into the Original of Our Ideas of Beauty and Virtue	505	(18)
Editor's Notes	523	(1)
Further Reading	524	(1)
Joseph Butler	525	(20)
Introduction	525	(2)
Sermons	527	(15)
Dissertation on Virtue	542	(1)
Editor's Notes	543	(1)
Further Reading	544	(1)
David Hume	545	(23)
Introduction	545	(2)
An Enquiry Concerning the Principles of Morals	547	(19)
Editor's Notes	566	(1)
Further Reading	566	(2)
Christian August Crusius	568	(18)
Introduction	568	(1)
Guide to Rational Living	569	(16)
Editor's Notes	585	(1)
Further Reading	585	(1)
Richard Price	586	(19)
Introduction	586	(2)
A Review of the Principal Questions in Morals	588	(15)
Editor's Notes	603	(1)
Further Reading	603	(2)
Jean-Jacques Rousseau	605	(25)
Introduction	605	(2)
Discourse on the Origin and the Foundations of Inequality Among Men	607	(8)
On the Social Contract	615	(8)
Emile	623	(5)
Editor's Notes	628	(1)
Further Reading	629	(1)
Thomas Reid	630	(21)
Introduction	630	(2)
Essays on the Active Powers of the Human Mind	632	(8)
Editor's Notes	640	(10)
Further Reading	650	(1)
Immanuel Kant	651	(14)
Introduction	651	(2)
Lectures of Mr. Kant on the Metaphysics of Morals	653	(9)
Editor's Notes	662	(2)
Further Reading	664	(1)
Supplemental Bibliography	665