Essays on the Intellectual Powers of Man Book

ESSAYS ON THE INTELLECTUAL POWERS OF MAN BY THOMAS REID EDITED AND ABRIDGED BY A. D. WOOZLEY, M. A. FELLOW OF THE gUEEN S COLLEGE, OXFORD MACMILLAN AND CO., LIMITED ST. MARTINS STREET, LONDON 1941 COPYRIGHT PRINTED IN GREAT BRITAIN 8Y R. R. CLARK, LIMITED, EDINBURGH EDITORS PREFACE THOMAS REIDS philosophy has for many years been un duly neglected, partly because its author was considerably long-winded and not particularly adventurous, partly also because the most recent edition of his works, published by Sir William Hamilton as long ago as 1846, was presented in a form that by modern standards appears scarcely read able double columns and minute type are an effective deterrent to all but the most determined reader. The present edition of his main work, the Essays on the Intel lectual Powers of Man, attempts, by cutting out the more otiose of the many repetitions, to which Reid himself con fessed, to bring back to him the attention which he certainly deserves, not merely for his place in the history of philo sophy, but even more for his illuminating discussions of the problems which chiefly interest philosophers to-day. Philosophy too has its fashions, and the vogue which Hume and the various empiricist schools springing from him at present enjoy makes it even more essential to study the thought of the man who was Humes principal contem porary critic, and who has his own contributions to make to the problems of perception, of memory, of reasoning and discursive thought, and of analysis. Reids acute exposi tion of the philosophy of common sense, coupled with his lucid style, makes it unnecessary to offer an apology for producing a new edition of the Intellectual Powers. I have done my best to omit nothing of philosophical importance to what extent I have succeeded is not for me to judge. I owe especial thanks to Mr. H. P. Grice, who has assisted me greatly by compiling the index and by sharing the labours of proof correction, and who by his criticisms and suggestions has enabled me to eliminate some of the more glaring howlers from my own contribution to the work. My gratitude is also due to Messrs. Macmillan for continuing with publication despite the discouragement of VI THE INTELLECTUAL POWERS OF MAN war-time conditions, and for the patience with which they have waited for the completion of the work. It has been finished slowly and with difficulty among the far from academic surroundings of barrack-room life, and I must apologise for any signs of carelessness which consequently appear. A D w THE QUEENS COLLEGE OXFORD December 1940 ABBREVIATIONS Essay Locke s Essay on Human Understanding Principles Berkeleys Principles of Human Knowledge Treatise Rhines Treatise on Human Nature Inquiry Reids Inquiry into the Human Mind Int. Powers Reids Essays on the Intellectual Powers of Man Active Powers Reids Essays on the Active Powers of Man H. Hamiltons edition of Reids Works INTRODUCTION THOMAS REIDS career was as uneventfully academic as that of his younger contemporary Kant, and although he did travel slightly f artEer afield than the German philo sopher, he spent yirtually Jthe,. whsk of. his life in the universitlesTof Aberdeen and Glasgow xcept for One expedition to England in 1736 he never left Scotland. 1 Born on April 26, 1710, at Strachan, Kincardineshire, he was the son of the Rev. Lewis Reid, minister of the parish, and came of a line of ministers of the Church of Scotland which included an earlier, and in his way dis tinguished, Thomas Reid, secretary in Latin and Greek to James I. On the side of his mother, Margaret Gregory, Reid was connected with one of the most remarkable Intellectual families of the day, . chiefly notable for its hereditary brilliance in mathematics. Three of her brothers were professors, one of them, David, being at the instance of Newton appointed Savilian Professor of Astronomy at Oxford his son, also David, became the first Professor of Modern History at Oxford and later Dean of Christ Church...