the cambridge companion to THOMAS REID

Transcription

1 the cambridge companion to THOMAS REID Each volume of this series of companions to major philosophers contains specially commissioned essays by an international team of scholars, together with a substantial bibliography, and will serve as a reference work for students and nonspecialists. One aim of the series is to dispel the intimidation such readers often feel when faced with the work of a difficult and challenging thinker. Widely acknowledged as the principal architect of Scottish common sense philosophy, Thomas Reid is increasingly recognized today as one of the finest philosophers of the 18th century. Combining a sophisticated response to the skeptical and idealist views of his day with a robust realism about mind, world, and value, Reid s thought stands as an important alternative to Humean skepticism, Kantian idealism, and Cartesian rationalism. This volume is the first comprehensive overview of Reid s output and covers not only his philosophy in detail but also his scientific work and his extensive historical influence. New readers will find this the most convenient and accessible guide to Reid currently available. Advanced students and specialists will find a conspectus of recent developments in the interpretation of Reid. Terence Cuneo is Assistant Professor of Philosophy at Calvin College, Grand Rapids, Michigan René van Woudenberg is Professor of Philosophy at the Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam i

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3 other volumes in the series of cambridge companions: AQUINAS Edited by norman kretzmann and eleonore stump HANNAH ARENDT Edited by dana villa ARISTOTLE Edited by jonathan barnes AUGUSTINE Edited by eleonore stump and norman kretzmann BACON Edited by markku peltonen SIMONE DE BEAUVOIR Edited by claudia card DARWIN Edited by jonathan hodge and gregory radick DESCARTES Edited by john cottingham DUNS SCOTUS Edited by thomas williams EARLY GREEK PHILOSOPHY Edited by a. a. long FEMINISM IN PHILOSOPHY Edited by miranda fricker and jennifer hornsby FOUCAULT Edited by gary gutting FREUD Edited by jerome neu GADAMER Edited by robert j. dostal GALILEO Edited by peter machamer GERMAN IDEALISM Edited by karl ameriks GREEK AND ROMAN PHILOSOPHY Edited by david sedley HABERMAS Edited by stephen k. white HEGEL Edited by frederick beiser HEIDEGGER Edited by charles guignon HOBBES Edited by tom sorell HUME Edited by david fate norton HUSSERL Edited by barry smith and david woodruff smith WILLIAM JAMES Edited by ruth anna putnam KANT Edited by paul guyer KIERKEGAARD Edited by alastair hannay and gordon marino LEIBNIZ Edited by nicholas jolley LEVINAS Edited by simon critchley and robert bernasconi LOCKE Edited by vere chappell MALEBRANCHE Edited by steven nadler MARX Edited by terrell carver MEDIEVAL PHILOSOPHY Edited by a. s. mc grade MEDIEVAL JEWISH PHILOSOPHY Edited by daniel h. frank and oliver leaman MILL Edited by john skorupski NEWTON Edited by i. bernard cohen and george e. smith NIETZSCHE Edited by bernd magnus and kathleen higgins OCKHAM Edited by paul vincent spade PASCAL Edited by nicholas hammond PLATO Edited by richard kraut PLOTINUS Edited by lloyd p. gerson RAWLS Edited by samuel freeman ROUSSEAU Edited by patrick riley BERTRAND RUSSELL Edited by nicholas griffin SARTRE Edited by christina howells SCHOPENHAUER Edited by christopher janaway THE SCOTTISH ENLIGHTENMENT Edited by alexander broadie SPINOZA Edited by don garrett THE STOICS Edited by brad inwood WITTGENSTEIN Edited by hans sluga and david stern iii

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5 The Cambridge Companion to THOMAS REID Edited by Terence Cuneo Calvin College, Grand Rapids, Michigan René van Woudenberg Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam v

6 32 Avenue of the Americas, New York ny , usa Cambridge University Press is part of the University of Cambridge. It furthers the University s mission by disseminating knowledge in the pursuit of education, learning and research at the highest international levels of excellence. Information on this title: / Cambridge University Press 2004 This publication is in copyright. Subject to statutory exception and to the provisions of relevant collective licensing agreements, no reproduction of any part may take place without the written permission of Cambridge University Press. First published 2004 A catalogue record for this publication is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloguing in Publication data The Cambridge companion to Thomas Reid/edited by Terence Cuneo, René van Woudenberg p. cm. (Cambridge companions to philosophy) Includes bibliographical references and index. isbn (hc) isbn (pbk) 1. Reid, Thomas, I. Cuneo, Terence, 1969 II. Woudenberg, René van. III. Series. b1537.c dc isbn Hardback isbn Paperback Cambridge University Press has no responsibility for the persistence or accuracy of URLs for external or third-party internet websites referred to in this publication, and does not guarantee that any content on such websites is, or will remain, accurate or appropriate.

7 contents List of Contributors Note on Citations Chronology of Events Relating to Thomas Reid and His Context page ix xiii xix Introduction 1 terence cuneo and rené van woudenberg 1 Reid in Context 31 alexander broadie 2 Thomas Reid and the Culture of Science 53 paul wood 3 Reid on Common Sense 77 nicholas wolterstorff 4 Reid s Theory of Perception 101 james van cleve 5 Reid s Reply to the Skeptic 134 john greco 6 Nativism and the Nature of Thought in Reid s Account of Our Knowledge of the External World 156 lorne falkenstein 7 Reid and the Social Operations of Mind 180 c. a. j. coady 8 Reid on Memory and the Identity of Persons 204 rené van woudenberg vii

8 viii Contents 9 Thomas Reid s Theory of Freedom and Responsibility 222 william l. rowe 10 Reid s Moral Philosophy 243 terence cuneo 11 Reid s Philosophy of Art 267 peter kivy 12 Reid s Philosophy of Religion 289 dale tuggy 13 Reid s Influence in Britain, Germany, France, and America 313 benjamin w. redekop Bibliography 341 Index of Names and Subjects 361

9 contributors ALEXANDER BROADIE is Professor of Philosophy and Chair of Logic and Rhetoric at the University of Glasgow, Scotland. He has published extensively in medieval philosophy and the history of Scottish philosophy. His books include The Circle of John Mair: Logic and Logicians in Pre-Reformation Scotland (1994), The Shadow of Scotus: Philosophy and Faith in Pre-Reformation Scotland (1999), and The Scottish Enlightenment: The Historical Age of the Historical Nation (2002). He is also the editor of The Cambridge Companion to the Scottish Enlightenment (2003). C. A. J. COADY is an ARC Senior Research Fellow and the Deputy Director of the ARC Special Research Centre for Applied Philosophy and Public Ethics at the University of Melbourne, Australia. He has published numerous articles in epistemology, philosophy of language, philosophy of mind, ethics, and political philosophy. He is the author of Testimony: A Philosophical Study (1992) and Morality and Political Violence (forthcoming). TERENCE CUNEO is Assistant Professor of Philosophy at Calvin College, Michigan. The author of several articles on Reid s moral philosophy and in contemporary metaethics, he is also the editor of Religion in the Liberal Polity (forthcoming). LORNE FALKENSTEIN is Professor of Philosophy at the University of Western Ontario. He has published widely in the history of early modern philosophy and is the author of Kant s Intuitionism: A Commentary on the Transcendental Aesthetic (1995). ix

10 x Contributors JOHN GRECO is Associate Professor of Philosophy at Fordham University, New York. In addition to having published numerous articles in epistemology, he is the author of Putting Skeptics in Their Place (2000) and the editor of Reading Sosa (forthcoming) and the coeditor (with Ernest Sosa) of The Blackwell Guide to Epistemology (1999). PETER KIVY is Professor of Philosophy, Rutgers University, New Jersey. Among his many books are Music Alone: Philosophical Reflections on the Purely Musical Experience (1991), Authenticities: Philosophical Reflections on Musical Performance (1998), New Essays on Musical Understanding (2001), The Possessor and the Possessed: Handel, Mozart, Beethoven, and the Idea of Musical Genius (2001), and Introduction to a Philosophy of Music (2002). BENJAMIN W. REDEKOP is Associate Professor of Liberal Studies at Kettering University, Michigan. In addition to having authored several articles on Reid, he is the author of Enlightenment and Community: Lessing, Abbt, Herder, and the Quest for a German Public (1999) and the editor of Power, Authority, and the Anabaptist Tradition (2001). WILLIAM L. ROWE is Professor of Philosophy at Purdue University, Indiana. He has published numerous articles in philosophy of religion, action theory and the history of philosophy. He is the author of Thomas Reid on Freedom and Morality (1991), The Cosmological Argument (1998), and Philosophy of Religion: An Introduction (2001, 3rd edition) and is the editor of God and the Problem of Evil (2002). DALE TUGGY is Assistant Professor of Philosophy at the State University of New York, Fredonia. His publications include articles on Thomas Reid and in the philosophy of religion. JAMES VAN CLEVE is Professor of Philosophy at Brown University, Rhode Island. He is the author of numerous articles in metaphysics, epistemology, philosophy of mind, philosophy of language, and the history of modern philosophy as well as Problems from Kant (1999).

11 Contributors xi RENÉ VAN WOUDENBERG is Professor of Philosophy at the Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. In addition to publishing articles in epistemology, history of philosophy, and philosophy of language, he has written several books including Gelovend denken (1992), Het mysterie van de identiteit (2000), and Filosofie van taal en tekst (2002). NICHOLAS WOLTERSTORFF is Noah Porter Professor of Philosophical Theology, Yale University, Connecticut. He is the author of, inter alia, On Universals (1970), Works and Worlds of Art (1980), Until Justice and Peace Embrace (1983), Reason within the Bounds of Religion (1984, 2nd edition), Divine Discourse (1995), John Locke and the Ethics of Belief (1996), and Thomas Reid and the Story of Epistemology (2001). PAUL WOOD is Professor of History at the University of Victoria, Canada. He has published widely in the intellectual history of early modern Europe and is the editor of Thomas Reid on the Animate Creation: Papers Relating to the Life Sciences (1995) and The Correspondence of Thomas Reid (2002).

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13 note on citations References to editions of or sources for Reid s published works use an abbreviated title of work or source as indicated below: list of abbreviations for works by thomas reid C The Correspondence of Thomas Reid, ed. Paul Wood. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, EAP Essays on the Active Powers of Man. In The Works of Thomas Reid, 6th ed., ed. Sir William Hamilton. Edinburgh: MacLachlan and Stewart, Reprint Bristol: Thoemmes Press, EIP Essays on the Intellectual Powers of Man, ed. Derek R. Brookes, with annotations by Derek R. Brookes and Knud Haakonssen. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, EQ An Essay on Quantity; occasioned by reading a Treatise, in which Simple and Compound Ratios are applied to Virtue and Merit, Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London 45 (1748): Reprinted in The Works of Thomas Reid: IHM An Inquiry into the Human Mind on the Principles of Common Sense, ed. Derek R. Brookes. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, LFA Lectures on the Fine Arts, ed. Peter Kivy. The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff, LNT Lectures on Natural Theology (1780), ed. Elmer Duncan. Washington: University Press of America, xiii

14 xiv Note on Citations LRF Thomas Reid on Logic, Rhetoric, and the Fine Arts, ed. Alexander Broadie. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, forthcoming. OP On Power, ed. John Haldane. Philosophical Quarterly 51, no. 202 (January 2001): PE Practical Ethics, ed. Knud Haakonssen. Princeton: Princeton University Press, PO The Philosophical Orations of Thomas Reid, ed. D. D. Todd. Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press, PRLS Thomas Reid on the Animate Creation: Papers Relating to the Life Sciences, ed. Paul Wood. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, SP Reid on Society and Politics, ed. Knud Haakonssen and Paul Wood. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, forthcoming. W The Works of Thomas Reid, 6th ed., ed. Sir William Hamilton. Edinburgh: MacLachlan and Stewart, Reprint Bristol: Thoemmes Press, Reid engaged extensively with the work of Locke and Hume, and several of the essays included in this volume make numerous references to this work. Thus, a similar abbreviation scheme is used when referring to Locke s An Essay Concerning Human Understanding and Hume s An Enquiry concerning the Principles of Morals, An Enquiry concerning Human Understanding, and A Treatise of Human Nature. list of abbreviations for works by john locke E An Essay Concerning Human Understanding, ed. Peter H. Nidditch. Oxford: Clarendon Press, list of abbreviations for works by david hume EHU An Enquiry concerning Human Understanding, ed. Tom L. Beauchamp. Oxford: Oxford University Press, EPM An Enquiry concerning the Principles of Morals, ed. Tom L. Beauchamp. Oxford: Oxford University Press, THU A Treatise of Human Nature, ed. David Fate Norton and Mary J. Norton. Oxford: Oxford University Press, reprinted with corrections, 2001.

15 Note on Citations xv In the case of references to the first two books published in Reid s lifetime (IHM and EIP), the abbreviated title is followed by two Roman numerals that indicate essay and chapter, and then a page number (if necessary), preceded by a colon. Thus a reference to Essay II, Chapter v, page 97 of Essays on the Intellectual Powers of Man is made as follows: EIP II.v: 97. Occasionally, an author may also include the line numbers on the page cited. In this case, the line numbers follow the page number preceded by a forward slash. Thus a reference to Essay II, Chapter v, page 97, lines 5 through 10 of Essays on the Intellectual Powers of Man is made as follows: EIP II.v: 97/5 10. With a single exception, references to Essays on the Active Powers of Man are made thus: The abbreviated title is followed by two Roman numerals that indicate essay and chapter, a page number (if necessary), preceded by a colon that is followed by the letter a or b, which indicates the left-hand and right-hand column respectively of the page in the Hamilton edition. Thus a reference to Essay II, Chapter i, page 637, column a of Essays on the Active Powers of Man is made as follows: EAP II.i: 637a. The exception to this is the references to Essay III of the Essays on the Active Powers of Man, which Reid divided into three parts with chapters. In the case of references to Essay III, then, the abbreviated title is followed by three Roman numerals that indicate essay, part, and chapter, respectively, followed by a page number (if necessary), preceded by a colon, that is followed by the letter a or b. Thus, a citation to Essay III, part iii, Chapter ii, page 581, column b of Essays on the Active Powers of Man is made as follows: EAP III.iii.ii: 581b. References to works by Reid published after his lifetime conform to the following format: The abbreviated title is given followed by a page number, preceded by a colon. Thus a reference to page 82 of Thomas Reid on the Animate Creation: Papers Relating to the Life Sciences is made as follows: PRLS: 82. Several of the essays contained in this volume cite Reid s unpublished manuscripts contained in Aberdeen University Library (AUL) and elsewhere. Unless indicated otherwise, references to the general collection designated AUL MS 2131 are given by the aforementioned general collection title, followed by an Arabic numeral designating the box number, a Roman numeral designating the envelope number, another Arabic numeral designating the item number (all separated by forward slashes) and then (if necessary) either a page number preceded by a colon or a folio number followed by v (verso) or r

16 xvi Note on Citations (recto) preceded by a comma. Thus a reference to page 11 of item 3 in envelope II, box 3 of AUS MS 2131 is made thus: AUL MS 2131/3/II/3: 11. By contrast, a reference to folio 2 verso of item 3 in envelope II, box 3 of AUL MS 2131 is made thus: AUL MS 2131/3/II/3, fol. 2v. References to the general collection designated AUL MS 3061 are given by the aforementioned general collection title, followed by an Arabic numeral that indicates the item number, separated by a forward slash, and followed by a page number (if necessary), preceded by a colon. Thus a reference to page 5 of item 6 of AUL MS 3061 is made thus: AUL MS 3061/6: 5. Unless indicated otherwise, references to other manuscripts held in this collection and manuscripts held at other locations are referred to by their general designation number. Thus a reference to AUL MS 2343 is made thus: AUL MS References to Locke s An Essay on Human Understanding take the following form: The abbreviated title is followed by two Roman numerals that indicate book and chapter, an Arabic numeral that indicates section, and then a page number (if necessary), preceded by a colon. Thus a reference to Book IV, Chapter 1, section 1, page 525 of An Essay on Human Understanding is made as follows: E IV.i.1: 525. References to Hume s An Enquiry concerning Human Understanding and An Enquiry concerning the Principles of Morals are made as such: The abbreviated title is followed by an Arabic numeral that indicates section number, an Arabic numeral that indicates part number (if necessary) and page number (if necessary), preceded by a colon. Thus a reference to section IV, page 109 of An Enquiry concerning Human Understanding is made thus: EHU IV: 109. References to Hume s Treatise on Human Nature take the following form: The abbreviated title is followed by three Arabic numerals that indicate book, part and section, and then a page number (if necessary), preceded by a colon. Thus a reference to Book 3, part 3, section 1, page 367 of A Treatise on Human Nature is made as follows: THU 3.3.1: 367. Unless indicated otherwise by the author of a particular essay, works by authors other than Reid (and the works by Locke and Hume mentioned above) are referred to by name of the author, the publication date of the work or edition cited (followed by a, b, c, etc. to distinguish publications in the same year), and a page number (if necessary), preceded by a colon. For example, a reference to

17 Note on Citations xvii page 100 of Nicholas Wolterstorff s Thomas Reid and the Story of Epistemology, published in 2001, is made thus: Wolterstorff 2001: 100. Full information about cited works and sources is given in the bibliography.

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19 chronology of events relating to thomas reid and his context 1687 Isaac Newton s Principia Mathematica 1690 John Locke s Essay Concerning Human Understanding Francis Hutcheson Henry Home, raised to the Bench as Lord Kames Colin Maclaurin George Turnbull 1704 Isaac Newton s Opticks 1707 Treaty of Union of England and Scotland 1710 Thomas Reid born to Lewis Reid and Margaret Gregory 1710 Bishop Berkeley s Principles of Human Knowledge David Hume 1711 Lord Shaftesbury s Characteristicks of Men, Manners, Opinions, Times George Campbell Reid a pupil at Kincardine O Neil parish school 1722 Reid at Aberdeen Grammar School; then matriculates at Marischal College, Aberdeen Adam Smith Adam Ferguson John Gregory 1726 Reid graduates Master of Arts from Marischal College Reid a student of divinity at Marischal College 1728 Hutcheson s Essay on the Nature and Conduct of the Passions, with Illustrations on the Moral Sense Alexander Gerard 1731 Reid licensed to preach by the presbytery of Kincardine O Neil xix

20 xx Chronology of Events David Skene 1732 Death of Margaret Gregory, Reid s mother Reid is librarian at Marischal College 1736 Reid and John Stewart visit Cambridge, London, and Oxford 1737 Reid ordained minister of New Machar, Aberdeenshire Hume s A Treatise of Human Nature 1740 Reid marries his cousin Elizabeth Reid in London George Turnbull s Principles of Moral and Christian Philosophy 1742 George Turnbull s Observations upon Liberal Education 1744 Birth of Martha, the only one of Reid s six children to survive him Jacobite Rising under Prince Charles Edward Stuart 1748 Hume s Philosophical Essays concerning Human Understanding (later titled An Enquiry concerning Human Understanding) Colin Maclaurin s Account of Sir Isaac Newton s Philosophical Discoveries Reid s Essay on quantity published in volume 45 of the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society 1751 Adam Smith appointed Professor of Logic and Rhetoric at Glasgow, becoming Professor of Moral Philosophy at Glasgow in 1752 Reid appointed regent at King s College, Aberdeen Hume s An Enquiry concerning the Principles of Morals James Gregory Dugald Stewart 1754 Reid becomes Honorary Burgess of Aberdeen 1755 Hutcheson s A System of Moral Philosophy 1757 Hume s The Natural History of Religion 1758 Founding of the Aberdeen Philosophical Society, the Wise Club, of which Reid is founding member and first secretary Reid attends inaugural meeting of the Gordon s Mill Farming Club

21 Chronology of Events xxi 1759 Adam Smith s The Theory of Moral Sentiments 1762 Reid receives doctorate of divinity from Marischal College Death of Reid s father, Lewis Reid George Campbell s Dissertation on Miracles 1764 Thomas Reid s An Inquiry into the Human Mind on the Principles of Common Sense Reid appointed Professor of Moral Philosophy at Glasgow in succession to Adam Smith and made burgess and guild brother of Glasgow Reid elected member of the Glasgow Literary Society 1765 Second edition of Reid s Inquiry 1766 Death of Reid s friend, the Marischal Professor of Mathematics, John Stewart 1769 Third edition of Reid s Inquiry 1774 Lord Kames s Sketches of the History of Man including Reid s A Brief Account of Aristotle s Logic Joseph Priestley s An Examination of Dr. Reid s Inquiry into the Human Mind on the Principles of Common Sense Reid publishes in the Monthly Review vols. 54, 55 an anonymous review of Joseph Priestley s edition of David Hartley s Observations on Man, His Frame, Duty, and Expectations (first published 1749) 1776 Adam Smith s The Wealth of Nations George Campbell s Philosophy of Rhetoric American Declaration of Independence 1777 Marriage of Reid s daughter Martha to Patrick Carmichael, son of Gershom Carmichael (first Professor of Moral Philosophy at Glasgow University) Joseph Priestley s Disquisitions Relating to Matter and Spirit Joseph Priestley s The Doctrine of Philosophical Necessity 1778 Joseph Priestley and Richard Price s A Free Discussion of the Doctrines of Materialism, and Philosophical Necessity, in a Correspondence between Dr. Price, and Dr. Priestley

22 xxii Chronology of Events 1779 Hume s Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion 1780 Archibald Arthur elected as Reid s assistant and successor 1781 Immanuel Kant s Critique of Pure Reason 1783 Reid elected Fellow of the newly founded Royal Society of Edinburgh 1784 Reid appointed Vice-Rector of Glasgow University by the Rector Edmund Burke 1785 Reid s Essays on the Intellectual Powers of Man Fourth edition of Reid s Inquiry Reid reappointed Vice-Rector of Glasgow University by the Rector Edmund Burke Dugald Stewart appointed Professor of Moral Philosophy at Edinburgh 1788 Reid s Essays on the Active Powers of Man Immanuel Kant s Critique of Practical Reason 1789 French Revolution 1790 Reid is founding member and first president of the Glasgow Society of the Sons of Ministers of the Church of Scotland 1791 Reid joins the Glasgow Friends of Liberty and attends Bastille Day dinner Medallion of Reid struck by James Tassie Reid contributes money to the French National Assembly Death of Reid s wife Elizabeth James Gregory s Philosophical and Literary Essays 1794 Reid publishes Observations on the dangers of political innovation in Glasgow Courier, 18 December 1795 Adam Smith s Essays on Philosophical Subjects 1796 Reid s portrait painted by Raeburn Death of Reid, 7 October 1799 Reid s University of Glasgow published in John Sinclair s Statistical Account of Scotland, vol Death of Reid s daughter Martha