
Common Sense and Improvement
Thomas Reid as Social Theorist
Peter Diamond(Author)
Peter Lang Verlag
Published on 1. November 1998
Book
Paperback/Softback
406 pages
978-3-631-33552-9 (ISBN)
Description
This book provides a comprehensive account of Thomas Reid's social thought. Although he is increasingly seen as a central figure in the Scottish Enlightenment, there is still a tendency among historians to view Reid principally as David Hume's chief critic. By relating Reid's writings to their contemporary social and intellectual contexts, Peter Diamond seeks to qualify this traditional image. He argues that in fact Reid understood himself to be engaged in the Humean project of rendering the study of man systematic and improvable, by ascertaining the laws of human nature. Diamond also demonstrates that Reid's well-known appeal to the principles of common sense was not just a metaphysical response to Humean skepticism; it was also a rhetorical attempt to teach men to live virtuously in an emerging commercial society.
More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
Frankfurt a.M.
Germany
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Edition type
New edition
Dimensions
Height: 21 cm
Width: 14.8 cm
Weight
540 gr
ISBN-13
978-3-631-33552-9 (9783631335529)
Schweitzer Classification
Person
The Author: Peter J. Diamond is Associate Professor of Political Science at the University of Utah.
Content
Contents: Thomas Reid's social and political thought - Thomas Reid and the Scottish Enlightenment - Thomas Reid and David Hume - Common Sense Philosophy - The rhetoric of Common Sense.