Kenny Anthony. An Illustrated Brief History of Western Philosophy

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afterword

384

This question involved a degree of confusion; and when clariﬁed it broke up into

two problems, one of which was psychological (what do we owe to heredity and

what do we owe to environment?) and the other was epistemological (how much

of our knowledge is a priori and how much a posteriori?) The question of hered-

ity vs. environment was handed over, for better or worse, to experimental psy-

chology, and ceased to be a philosophical question. The question how much of

our knowledge is a priori and how much a posteriori was a question not about

the acquisition of knowledge, but about its justiﬁcation, and that, after this ﬁrst

split, remained within philosophy.

But that problem, too, propagated by ﬁssion into a set of questions which were

philosophical and a set of questions which were not philosophical. The philo-

sophical notions of a priori and a posteriori ramiﬁed and reﬁned into a number of

questions, one of which was Kant’s question: ‘Which propositions are analytic

and which are synthetic?’ The notion of analyticity was in the end given a precise

formulation by Frege in terms of mathematical logic, and in the end the ques-

tion ‘Is arithmetic analytic?’ was given a precise mathematical answer by Gödel’s

proof that arithmetic could not be completely axiomatized. But the mathematical

answer to the question left behind to philosophy many remaining questions

about the nature and justiﬁcation of mathematical truth.

In this case, then, we began with an initial confused philosophical question –

the distinction between innate and acquired ideas. This then ramiﬁed in two

directions – in the direction of empirical psychology on the one hand, and in

the direction of mathematical logic on the other – leaving in the middle a

philosophical residue to be investigated.

Many whole disciplines which were once branches of philosophy have over

the centuries become independent sciences. If we generalize from the history

of philosophy, we can say that a discipline remains philosophical as long as its

concepts are unclariﬁed and its methods are controversial. Once problems can be

unambiguously stated, once concepts are appropriately standardized, and once a

consensus emerges for the methodology of solution, then we have an independ-

ent science rather than a branch of philosophy.

Does that mean that at some time there will be nothing left for philosophy

to do? Will all problem areas be sufﬁciently clariﬁed to set up as independent

sciences? I believe not: the theory of meaning, epistemology, philosophy of

mind, ethics, and metaphysics will always remain philosophical. Whatever new

non-philosophical problems will be generated by these disciplines, to be solved by

non-philosophical methods, there will always remain an irreducible core amenable

only to philosophy. This is because of the self-reﬂexive nature of these disciplines:

each of them is committed to the critical study of its own exercise.

It is for this reason that the study of the history of philosophy remains worth-

while, not just as an antiquarian enterprise, but as a method of learning the

nature of philosophy itself. It is because of the irreducibly philosophical material

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afterword

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which they contain that the ethical and metaphysical texts of Plato and Aristotle

retain an interest which their writings on cosmology or zoology have lost.

The areas of philosophy which remain for ever philosophical are much more

difﬁcult to explore than those which can be, and have been, hived off into self-

standing disciplines. This is because their subject matter is so all-embracing and

their concepts so universally applicable. The achievement of a systematic philo-

sophical overview is something so difﬁcult that only genius can hope to achieve

it. So vast is philosophy that only a wholly exceptional mind can see the con-

sequences of even the simplest philosophical argument or conclusion. For all of

us who are not geniuses, the best way to come to grips with philosophy is by

reaching up to the minds of the great philosophers of the past.

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suggestions for further reading

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SUGGESTIONS FOR

FURTHER READING

The most impressive History of Philosophy by a single author is F. Copleston’s nine-volume

series (Burns Oates & Search Press, 1943–74). Though some readers ﬁnd its style too

bland, it is erudite, comprehensive and judicious. Naturally it has been superseded in detail

by studies of individual philosophers, but it remains valuable to consult.

Nowadays most histories of philosophy are the work of more than one author. Such are

the Routledge History of Philosophy, which when complete will comprise ten volumes (1993– );

also A History of Western Philosophy published in the OPUS series by Oxford University Press

(OUP) and the volumes of the Cambridge History published by Cambridge University Press

(CUP). Past Masters (PM), a series of monographs on particular thinkers published by OUP,

when completed and placed end to end will constitute a good introductory history of philo-

sophy. Detailed references to individual volumes of all these works will be given below.

Other works by many hands are The Oxford Companion to Philosophy, ed. T. Honderich

(OUP, 1995), and The Oxford Illustrated History of Western Philosophy, ed. A. Kenny

(OUP, 1994). Useful sources for those who want to possess the works of original philo-

sophers without great expense are the Penguin Classics (PC) and the series of World’s

Classics published by OUP (WC).

I am much indebted to all the authors whose works ﬁgure in this select bibliography.

I have also included references to works where I have myself written at greater length

on topics included in the main text.

Chapter One Philosophy in its Infancy

The important texts of the philosophers discussed in this chapter are gathered in G. S.

Kirk, J. Raven, and M. Schoﬁeld (eds), The Presocratic Philosophers, 2nd edn (CUP, 1983).

A convenient collection in English is Early Greek Philosophy (PC, 1987), by J. Barnes, who

has also published in two volumes The Presocratic Philosophers (Routledge, 1982). There is

a brief history of the period covered in the ﬁrst ﬁve chapters in T. Irwin, Classical Thought

(OUP, 1969).

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Chapter Two The Athens of Socrates

The complete works of Plato are translated in a single volume edited by J. M. Cooper

(Hackett, 1997). The dialogues discussed in this chapter are collected in a PC, The Last

Days of Socrates. The Phaedo is in WC. On Socrates, see G. Vlastos, Socrates, Ironist and

Moral Philosopher (CUP, 1991).

Chapter Three The Philosophy of Plato

Most of Plato’s major dialogues, including the Republic, have been translated in PC and

WC. There is a PM by R. M. Hare (1981). See also C. Rowe, Plato (Harvester, 1984), and

J. Annas, An Introduction to Plato’s Republic (OUP, 1981, 1982).

Chapter Four The System of Aristotle

Aristotle’s complete works are translated in two volumes edited by J. Barnes (Princeton

University Press, 1984). The Nicomachean Ethics, and the Politics are in PC and WC, the

De Anima in PC, and the Physics in WC. There is also a collection of texts in J. Ackrill,

A New Aristotle Reader (OUP, 1987). Barnes, Aristotle (PM, 1982) is one of the best in

the series. See also J. L. Ackrill, Aristotle the Philosopher (OUP, 1981), and A. Kenny,

Aristotle’s Theory of the Will (Duckworth, 1979) and Aristotle on the Perfect Life (OUP,

1995).

Chapter Five Greek Philosophy after Aristotle

The most important texts are collected and translated in A. A. Long and D. Sedley (eds),

The Hellenistic Philosophers (Cambridge, 1987). See also A. A. Long, Hellenistic Philo-

sophy (Duckworth, 1974) and M. Schoﬁeld, M. Burnyeat, and J. Barnes (eds), Doubt

and Dogmatism (OUP, 1980). The thinkers discussed in this chapter and the next are

covered in A. H. Armstrong (ed.), The Cambridge History of Later Greek and Early

Medieval Philosophy (CUP, 1970). See also D. O’Meara, Plotinus (OUP, 1995). Plotinus’

Enneads are available in Greek and English in the Loeb Classical Library (Heinemann,

1979).

Chapter Six Early Christian Philosophy

An excellent history of this period is H. Chadwick, The Early Church (Penguin, 1993).

The relevant chapters of J. McManners (ed.), The Oxford History of Christianity are also

useful. Augustine’s Confessions are in WC and the City of God in PC. There is a PM on

Augustine (1986) by H. Chadwick, who is also the author of Boethius (OUP, 1990). On

Philoponus see R. Sorabji (ed.), Philoponus and the Rejection of Aristotelian Science

(Duckworth, 1987).

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Chapter Seven Early Medieval Philosophy

The topics of this and the next two chapters are covered in The Cambridge History of Later

Medieval Philosophy, ed. N. Krezmann, A. Kenny, and J. Pinborg (CUP, 1982). A lively

popular introduction to medieval philosophy is D. Knowles, The Evolution of Medieval

Thought (Longman, 2nd edn, 1988). More up-to-date is D. Luscombe’s Medieval Thought

(OUP, 1997). For greater detail on the period covered in this chapter see Early Medieval

Philosophy, by J. Marenbon, who is also the author of the best book on The Philosophy of

Peter Abelard (CUP, 1997). For John the Scot, see J. J. O’Meara, Eriugena (OUP,

1988). The most engaging life of Anselm is R. W. Southern’s Saint Anselm (CUP, 1990).

Abelard’s Ethics is available in translation by D. Luscombe (OUP, 1971). On the Arabic

philosophers, see H. A. Davidson, Alfarabi, Avicenna, and Averroes on Intellect (OUP,

1992).

Chapter Eight Philosophy in the Thirteenth Century

The Summa Theologiae is available in Latin and in English in the Blackfriars edition (Eyre

& Spottiswoode, from 1964). A very useful selection of Aquinas’ philosophical writings,

translated by Timothy McDermott, is in WC. The best biography is by J. Weisheipl,

Friar Thomas d’Aquino (Doubleday, 1974). There is a PM (1979) by A. Kenny, also the

author of The Five Ways (1969) and Aquinas on Mind (1994). See also B. Davies, The

Thought of Thomas Aquinas (OUP, 1993), and The Cambridge Companion to Aquinas,

ed. N. Kretzmann and Eleonore Stump. The philosophers considered in this and the

succeeding chapter are dicussed in J. Marenbon, Later Medieval Philosophy (Routledge,

1987).

Chapter Nine Oxford Philosophers

For Oxford in the fourteenth century, see Schools and Scholars in Fourteenth Century

England by W. J. Courtenay (Princeton University Press, 1987). There is little work of

Scotus or about Scotus available in English; a collection of extracts was published by A.

Wolter (Nelson, 1962). The deﬁnitive work on Ockham as a philosopher is M. Adams,

William Ockham (Notre Dame, 1987). A selection of extracts is given in Philosophical

Writings: A Selection, ed. by P. Boehner, and Notre Dame University Press is bringing out

a multi-volume translation of his Summa Totius Logicae. On Ockham’s politics, see A. S.

McGrade, The Political Thought of William of Ockham (CUP, 1974). Marsilius’ Defensor

Pacis has been translated by A. Gewirth (New York, 1956). On Wyclif there is a PM

(1985) by A. Kenny.

Chapter Ten Renaissance Philosophy

The best general survey is The Cambridge History of Renaissance Philosophy, ed. C. B.

Schmitt and Q. Skinner (CUP, 1988). Briefer is B. P. Copenhaver and C. B. Schmitt,

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Renaissance Philosophy (OUP, 1992). A number of texts are collected in E. Cassirer,

The Renaissance Philosophy of Man (Chicago University Press, 1978). J. McConica’s Ren-

aissance Thinkers (OUP, 1993) contains four PMs – his own on Erasmus, A. Kenny’s on

More, P. Burke on Montaigne, and A. Quinton on Bacon. On the Reformation, see J.

Bossy, Christianity in the West, 1400–1700 (OUP, 1985) and O. Chadwick, The Reforma-

tion (Penguin, 1964). Giordano Bruno’s main works were written while he was a double

agent in the French Embassy in London, in 1583–5; there is a gripping account of his life

in J. Bossy, Giordano Bruno and the Embassy Affair (Vintage, 1991).

Chapter Eleven The Age of Descartes

The best life of Descartes is S. Gaukroger, Descartes: An Intellectual Biography (OUP,

1994). Descartes’ works are available in English in The Philosophical Writings of Descartes

in three vols, ed. and trans. by J. Cottingham, R. Stoothoff, D. Murdoch, and A. Kenny.

Short studies include A. Kenny, Descartes (Thoemmes, 1993) and B. Williams, Descartes:

The Project of Pure Enquiry (Penguin, 1978).

Chapter Twelve English Philosophy in the Seventeenth Century

Hobbes’ Leviathan is in WC and PC. There is a PM by R. Tuck (1989), and a Hobbes

Dictionary by R. M. Martinich (Blackwell, 1995). The complete works of John Locke are

being brought out by OUP in a Clarendon edition. His Essay Concerning Human Under-

standing is available in paperback (OUP, 1979). His writings on the social contract, along

with those of Hume and Rousseau, are edited by E. Barker, The Social Contract (OUP,

1978). There is a PM by J. Dunn (1984). Other material on Locke is noted in connection

with Chapter Fourteen.

Chapter Thirteen Continental Philosophy in the Age of Louis XIV

A general history is J. Cottingham’s The Rationalists (OUP, 1988). Pascal’s Pensées are in

WC. Spinoza’s Ethics and selected writings of Leibniz appeared in the Everyman Library

(Dent, 1950 and 1973). There are PMs on Spinoza (by R. Scruton, 1986) and Leibniz

(by G. M. Ross, 1984). See also J. Bennett, A Study of Spinoza’s Ethics (CUP, 1984) and

R. M. Adams, Leibniz: Determinist, Theist, Idealist (OUP, 1994).

Chapter Fourteen British Philosophy in the Eighteenth Century

On the empiricists in general see J. Bennett, Locke, Berkeley, Hume: Central Themes (OUP,

1971), and R. S. Woolhouse, The Empiricists (OUP, 1988). Berkeley’s Principles and

Dialogues are in WC, as are Hume’s Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion, his Enquiries,

his Treatise, and his Selected Essays (WC). There are PMs on Berkeley (J. O. Urmson,

1982) and Hume (A. J. Ayer, 1980). See also David Pears, Hume’s System (OUP, 1990).

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Chapter Fifteen The Enlightenment

For this chapter and also Chapters Seventeen and Nineteen see R. C. Solomon, Continental

Philosophy since 1750 (OUP, 1988). Rousseau’s Discourse on Political Economy and Social

Contract are in WC, and his Confessions in PC. Several works by Voltaire are in WC

and PC. There is a PM on Rousseau by R. Wokler (1995), and one on Coleridge by

R. Holmes (1982).

Chapter Sixteen The Critical Philosophy of Kant

The commonly used English editions of Kant’s major works are Critique of Pure Reason,

ed. N. Kemp Smith (Macmillan, 1973), Critique of Judgment, ed. J. Meredith (OUP,

1978) and Groundwork of the Metaphysic of Morals, ed. H. Paton (Hutchinson, 1955).

There is a PM by R. Scruton (1982), and a Kant Dictionary by Howard Caygill (Blackwell,

1994). There are good studies by J. Bennett (Kant’s Analytic, CUP, 1966, and Kant’s

Dialectic, CUP, 1974) and by P. Strawson (The Bounds of Sense, 1966).

Chapter Seventeen German Idealism and Materialism

There are paperback translation of parts of Hegel’s work under the titles ‘Hegel’s

Logic’ and ‘Hegel’s Philosophy of Mind’ published by OUP (1975 and 1971). OUP also

issues a paperback of The Phenomenology of Spirit and of the introduction to his Lectures

on the History of Philosophy (1987). There is a PM by P. Singer (1983) and a Hegel

Dictionary by M. Inwood (Blackwell, 1993). Many of Marx’s works are in PC; a Reader

of his works, edited by J. Elster, has been published by CUP. There is a PM by P. Singer

(1980).

Chapter Eighteen The Utilitarians

Bentham’s complete works are being published in many volumes by OUP. There is a PM

by John Dinwiddy (1989). His Introduction to the Principles of Morals and Legislation was

edited by J. H. Burne and H. L. A. Hart (London, 1982). J. S. Mill’s On Liberty and

Principles of Political Economy are in WC.

Chapter Nineteen Three Nineteenth-Century Philosophers

Schopenhauer’s The World as Will and Idea is often read in the English translation of R. B.

Haldane and J. Kemp (London, 1948–50). His short essays (Parerga and Paralipomena,

OUP, 1974) are witty and well worth reading. A recent study of his work is B. Magee, The

Philosophy of Schopenhauer (OUP, 1987). Several of Kierkegaard’s works are available in

PC, and there is a PM by P. Gardiner (1988). See also A. Rudd, Kierkegaard and the

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Limits of the Ethical (OUP, 1993). Several of Nietzsche’s works are in WC and PC; there

is a PM by M. Tanner (1994).

Chapter Twenty Three Modern Masters

Darwin’s Origin of Species is in WC and in PC. Newman’s major philosophical work is An

Essay in Aid of a Grammar of Assent, ed. I. Ker (OUP, 1985). There is a good PM by O.

Chadwick (OUP, 1983). Comparatively little has been written about Newman’s philo-

sophy, but see S. A. Grave, Conscience in Newman’s Thought (OUP, 1989). A series of

inexpensive paperback English translations of the works of Freud brought out by Penguin.

There is a PM on Freud by A. Storr (1989).

Chapter Twenty-One Logic and the Foundations of Mathematics

The most important philosophical texts of Frege are collected in English in The Frege

Reader, ed. M. Beaney (Blackwell, 1997). M. Dummett’s works, particularly Frege: Philo-

sophy of Language (Duckworth, 2nd edn, 1981), dominate the ﬁeld but are difﬁcult for

the beginner. There is no PM, but see A. Kenny, Frege (Penguin, 1995). Most of Russell’s

works are still in print; for beginners the one to read ﬁrst is Problems of Philosophy (OUP,

1967); perhaps his best book was Introduction to Mathematical Philosophy (Methuen,

1919). There is a PM by A. C. Grayling (1996).

Chapter Twenty-Two The Philosophy of Wittgenstein

The major texts of Wittgenstein are in English in A. Kenny, A Wittgenstein Reader

(Blackwell, 1994). His two principal works, Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus and Philosophical

Investigations are both available in English editions published by Blackwell (1961 and

1958). See A. Kenny, Wittgenstein (Penguin, 1973) and D. Pears, The False Prison (OUP,

1987–8). There is also A Wittgenstein Dictionary by H.-J. Glock (Blackwell, 1996).

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index

INDEX

Page numbers in italics denote an illustration

Abelard, 133–8, 134, 145, 160, 293

ethics, 137–8

life and works, 133–5

logic, 135–7

Abraham, 328

absolute, 288, 303

absolutists, 311–12

abstraction, 169

eliminative vs. representational, 252

Academy, 38, 62, 92, 98

accidents, 80, 154, 155–6

Achilles, 14

acquaintance, 363

actuality, 81–2

ﬁrst vs. second, 84

adultery, 71, 160, 192

Aeschylus, 22

aesthetics, 324, 327–8

afﬁrmative propositions, 65, 281

air, 7

Albert, St, 150–1

Alexander the Great, 62, 63, 77, 91,

246–7, 281

Alexandria, 91, 105

alienation, 304–5

Alkindi, 128

Ambrose, St, 114, 118

analogy, 81, 167

analysis, 362–4

analyticity, 247, 276

Anaxagoras, 23–4, 27

Anaximander, 4

Anaximenes, 4–5, 9, 15, 23

angels, 154, 356

animals as automata, 219

Anselm, St, 131–3, 175

anthropomorphism, 5

Apollo, 1, 26, 184, 330

appearance (vs. reality), 19, 59, 94, 98,

278, 322

apperception, 248, 282

appetite, 47, 53, 70, 72

Aquinas, St Thomas, 146–7, 150–63,

165, 167, 169, 171, 215; plate 9,

on essence and existence, 156–7

life and works, 150–2

metaphysics, 154–6

moral philosophy, 159–62

natural theology, 152–4

philosophy of mind, 157–9

Arcesilaus, 98

architect of the world, 294

arete, 73

argument (vs. function), 353

Arianism, 109–12

aristocracy, 270, 330

Aristotle, 2, 14, 18, 41–2, 61–90, 64,

123–4, 139, 145, 148, 152, 156,

185, 186, 295, 337; plate 3, 8

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index

Categories, 80–1

Ethics, 68–75, 148, 159, 162

History of Animals, plate 5

life and works, 61–3

Metaphysics, 79, 86–90, 141, 379

moral philosophy, 68–75

Poetics, 67–8

Politics, 75–7

Posterior Analytics, 63–6, 78

on science, 77–80

on the soul, 83–6

theory of nature of change, 81–3

translation of works, 148

arithmetic, 318, 353–9, 355

Arnauld, Antoine, 215

art, 324, 329

article, deﬁnite, 9, 360–2

articulate belief, 57–8

asceticism, 71, 326

assent, 341

association of ideas, 260, 345

astrology, 187, 198, 201

astronomy, 2, 78, 199–200

atheism, 27, 222, 266, 305, 329, 343

Athenian Empire 21–2, 23, 25, 92

schools, 92

atomic propositions, 367–8

atomism, 17–20, 94