Ideas and Mechanism (ebook)

Argumento de Ideas and Mechanism (ebook)

For more than three decades, Margaret Wilson's essays on early modern philosophy have influenced scholarly debate. Many are considered classics in the field and remain as important today as they were when they were first published. Until now, however, they have never been available in book form and some have been particularly difficult to find. This collection not only provides access to nearly all of Wilson's most significant work, but also demonstrates the continuity of her thought over time. These essays show that Wilson possesses a keen intelligence, coupled with a fearlessness in tackling the work of early modern philosophers as well as the writing of modern commentators. Many of the pieces collected here respond to philosophical issues of continuing importance.

The thirty-one essays gathered here deal with some of the best known early philosophers, including Descartes, Leibniz, Locke, Spinoza, and Berkeley. As this collection shows, Wilson is a demanding critic. She repeatedly asks whether the philosophers' arguments were adequate to the problems they were trying to solve and whether these arguments remain compelling today. She is not afraid to engage in complex argument but, at the same time, her own writing remains clear and fresh. Ideas and Mechanism is an essential collection of work by one of the leading scholars of our era.

Originally published in 1999.

The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These paperback editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.0Preface Editions and Abbreviations Ch. 1 Skepticism without Indubitability 3 Ch. 2 Descartes on Sense and "Resemblance" 10 Ch. 3 Descartes on the Perception of Primary Qualities 26 Ch. 4 Descartes on the Origin of Sensation 41 Ch. 5 Descartes on the Representationality of Sensation 69 Ch. 6 Descartes: The Epistemological Argument for Mind-Body Distinctness 84 Ch. 7 True and Immutable Natures 94 Ch. 8 Can I Be the Cause of My Idea of the World? (Descartes on the Infinite and Indefinite) 108 Ch. 9 Objects, Ideas, and "Minds": Comments on Spinoza's Theory of Mind 126 Ch. 10 Spinoza's Causal Axiom (Ethics I, Axiom 4) 141 Ch. 11 Infinite Understanding, Scientia Intuitiva, and Ethics I.16 166 Ch. 12 "For They Do Not Agree in Nature with Us": Spinoza on the Lower Animals 178 Ch. 13 Superadded Properties: The Limits of Mechanism in Locke 196 Ch. 14 Discussion: Superadded Properties: A Reply to M. R. Ayers 209 Ch. 15 Did Berkeley Completely Misunderstand the Basis of the Primary-Secondary Quality Distinction in Locke? 215 Ch. 16 Berkeley on the Mind-Dependence of Colors 229 Ch. 17 Berkeley and the Essence of the Corpuscularians 243 Ch. 18 The Issue of "Common Sensibles" in Berkeley's New Theory of Vision 257 Ch. 19 Kant and "The Dogmatic Idealism of Berkeley" 276 Ch. 20 The "Phenomenalisms" of Berkeley and Kant 294 Ch. 21 The "Phenomenalisms" of Leibniz and Berkeley 306 Ch. 22 Confused Ideas 322 Ch. 23 Confused vs. Distinct Perception in Leibniz: Consciousness, Representation, and God's Mind 336 Ch. 24 Leibniz and Locke on "First Truths" 353 Ch. 25 Leibniz: Self-Consciousness and Immortality in the Paris Notes and After 373 Ch. 26 Leibniz and Materialsm 388 Ch. 27 Possible Gods 407 Ch. 28 Leibniz's Dynamics and Contingency in Nature 421 Ch. 29 Compossibility and Law 442 Ch. 30 History of Philosophy in Philosophy Today; and the Case of the Sensible Qualities 455 Ch. 31 Animal Ideas 495 Sources and Acknowledgments 513 Index 515