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10 November 201523 August 2023

‘Locke (A Very Short Introduction)’ by John Dunn, Oxford University Press

‘Locke: A Very Short Introduction’ by John Dunn is a short commentary on life, political thought and philosophy of John Locke.

Contents of each chapters are below.
First, in chapter 1, John Dunn introduces the life of Locke briefly with the process of his thought, the scientific situation in Europe and the political affairs in Britain. Three large movement affects thought of Locke. The first movement is he was familiar with Christianity. The second is career of the administration and finance. The third is the commitment to philosophical understanding, which made Locke to consider philosophical question of political authority and toleration, of ethics and the theory of knowledge.
In chapter 2, author comments political thought of Locke. Locke’s central conception of government is the idea of trust. Human beings can deserve each other’s trust, they help to hold together the community. Men are so aware of their need to trust one another and because they sense the aid which this concentrated power to execute the law of nature can offer to their lives.
And, in chapter 3, author summarized Locke’s philosophy of knowledge or epistemology. In the ‘Essay Concerning Human Understanding’, Locke attempted to show how men can use their minds to know what they need to know and to believe only what they ought to believe. Human beings are free, they must think and judge for themselves. Reason must be their last judge and guide in everything. Moral ideas were inventions of the human mind, not copies of nature. This contrast is the foundation in modern philosophical thinking of the presumption of a stark gap between facts about the world and values for human beings. The distinction between fact and value is both a product of Locke’s conception of human knowing and the subversion of his beliefs about human values.
Then, in ‘conclusion’, author concludes ‘for Locke the central truths about how men have good reason to live are just as independent of what at a particular time they happen consciously to desire’.

I think this book is not a introduction to John Locke and his philosophy, is a intermediate commentary on them. You must have some degree of preliminary knowledge of history, Christianity, political thought, history of philosophy and philosophy of John Locke. Comments of this book is entirely tough and unclear, and devote many pages to write background and surroundings of his philosophy. But this book helps you to develop a deep comprehension to Locke’s philosophy as second or third commentary.
The most valuable fruits I obtained by this book are I can grasp how Locke illustrated his system of epistemology, and understand Locke was a positive, optimistic, practical and religious thinker, he was not a negative, skeptical and Atheist thinker like David Hume.

Locke (Very Short Introductions)
John Dunn
Oxford University Press, Oxford, 31 July 2003
136 pages £7.99 $11.95
ISBN: 978-0192803948
Contents:
Abbreviations
List of illustrations
Acknowledgements
1. Life
2. The Politics of Trust
3. Knowledge, Belief, and Faith
Conclusion
References
Further Reading
Index

‘Hume in 90 Minutes’ by Paul Strathern, Ivan R. Dee

‘Hume in 90 Minutes’ by Paul Strathern is a simple and brief introduction to David Hume and his empiricism philosophy. Former part of ‘Hume’s Life and Works’ comments Hume’s background and his solipsistic and skeptic view to the world and beings in ‘A Treatise of Human Nature’, and hid illness and private life. Later part of it describes from his public career, ethics and affairs of England, to the ambassador in France, his relationships with and influences to Rousseau and Adam Smith, and his end of life.
In ‘Hume, His True Successors, and Modern Science’, Strathern comments Hume’s epistemological thought impacted on the hypothesis based approach by Ernst Mach and the empirical proposition by logical positivism.
Strathern comments empiricist epistemology of Hume concisely as follows.
‘In Hume’s view, experience consists of perceptions, of which there are two types. “Those perceptions which enter with most force and violence we may name impressions; and, under this name, I comprehend all our sensations, passions and emotions, as they make their first appearance in the soul. By ideas I mean the faint images of these in thinking and reasoning.”’
‘He explains: “Every simple idea has a simple impression, which resembles it.” But we can also form complex ideas. These are derived from impressions, by way of simple ideas, but need not necessarily conform to an impression.’

This book is useful and interesting. Because Strathern comments splendidly Hume’s epistemology, ethics and political theory influenced to and were influenced by scientific, religious and political situations in his era. And his empiricist view to the world connected to today’s our view to the world.

Hume in 90 Minutes (Philosophers in 90 Minutes Series)
Paul Strathern
Ivan R. Dee, Chicago, 15 August 2007
96 pages $9.95
ISBN: 978-1566632409
Contents:
Introduction
Hume’s Life and Works
Afterword
Hume, His True Successors, and Modern Science
From Hume’s Writing
Chronology of Significant Philosophical Dates
Chronology of Hume’s Life
Recommended Reading
Index

23 June 20157 October 2021

‘Berkeley in 90 Minutes’ by Paul Strathern, Ivan R. Dee

‘Berkeley in 90 Minutes’ by Paul Strathern is a simple and brief introduction to George Berkeley and his characteristic empiricism philosophy. Strathern write description about Berkeley’s two master pieces of philosophy and epistemology ‘An Essay Towards a New Theory of Vision’ and ‘A Treatise Concerning the Principles of Human Knowledge’ in the former half of this book. And I think Strathern successes explain Berkeley’s peculiar empiricist epistemology concisely. The later half of this book describes Berkeley’s academic and religious career, controversies about sciences, and his later life.
Strathern comments empiricist epistemology of Berkeley like below.
Berkeley ‘pointed out that we may derive our knowledge from our experience, but this consists only of sensations. We have no access to any underlying material substance which might give rise to these sensations. Despite its apparent absurdity, this argument is profound. It led Berkeley to his famous conclusion: else est percipi (to be is to be perceived). This triumphantly overcome materialism, but it left Berkeley with the problem of what happened to the world when no one was looking. As we have seen, Berkeley suggested that God is always looking. He derived this view from Malebranche, who held that change is not caused by objects interacting in cause and effect, but by the continuous action of God upon the world.’

Philosophical descriptions in this book is not many. But I recommend this book to absolute beginners in Berkeley and British empiricism. This book is a just introduction to peculiar philosophy of George Berkeley.

Berkeley in 90 Minutes (Philosophers in 90 Minutes Series)
Paul Strathern
Ivan R. Dee, Chicago, 10 April 2000
87 pages $7.95
ISBN: 978-1-56663-291-1
Contents:
Introduction
Berkeley’s Life and Works
From Berkeley’s Writing
Chronology of Significant Philosophical Dates
Chronology of Berkeley’s Life
Chronology of Berkeley’s Era
Recommended Reading
Index