William Roye

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Edward B. Davis, Michael Hunter

"The main objective of Cambridge Texts in the History of Philosophy is to expand the range, variety, and quality of texts in the history of philosophy which are available in English. The series includes texts by familiar names (such as Descartes and Kant) and also by less well-known authors. Wherever possible, texts are published in complete and unabridged form, and translations are specially commissioned for the series. Each volume contains a critical introduction together with a guide to further reading and any necessary glossaries and textual apparatus. The volumes are designed for student use at undergraduate and postgraduate level, and will be of interest not only to students of philosophy, but also to a wider audience of readers in the history of science, the history of theology, and the history of ideas." "In this book, published in 1686, the scientist Robert Boyle (1627-91) attacked prevailing notions of the natural world which depicted 'Nature' as a wise, benevolent and purposeful being. Boyle, one of the leading mechanical philosophers of his day, believed that the world was best understood as a vast, impersonal machine, fashioned by an infinite, personal God. In this cogent treatise, he drew on his scientific findings, his knowledge of contemporary medicine and his deep reflection on theological and philosophical issues, arguing that it was inappropriate both theologically and scientifically to speak of Nature as if it had a mind of its own: instead, the only true efficient causes of things were the properties and powers given to matter by God. As such, A Free Enquiry into the Vulgarly Received Notion of Nature represents one of the subtlest statements concerning the philosophical issues raised by the mechanical philosophy to emerge from the period of the scientific revolution. Book jacket."--Jacket.

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David Hume

"David Hume is the greatest and also one of the most provocative philosophers to have written in the English language. His sceptical accounts of the causes and consequences of religious belief are expressed most powerfully in the Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion and The Natural History of Religion."--BOOK JACKET. "The Dialogues ask if belief in God can be inferred from the nature of the universe or whether it is even consistent with what we know about the universe. The Natural History of Religion investigates the origins of belief, and follows its development from harmless polytheism to dogmatic monotheism. Together they constitute the most formidable attack upon the rationality of religious belief ever mounted by a philosopher."--BOOK JACKET. "This edition also includes Section XI of The Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding and a letter concerning the Dialogues as well as a particularly helpful critical apparatus and abstracts of the main texts."--BOOK JACKET.

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Patricia Springborg

This book indicates that Hobbes's legacy was never lost and that he belongs to a tradition of reflection on political theory and governance that is still alive, both in Europe and in the diaspora.

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Buffon

THEORIEDE LATERREPREMIER DISCOURSDE LA MANIERE D'ETUDIER ET DE TRAITER L'HISTOIRE NATURELLEl'histoire naturelle, prise dans toute son etendue, est une histoire immense ; elle embrasse tous les objets que nous presente l'univers. Cette multitude prodigieuse de quadrupedes, d'oiseaux, de poissons, d'insectes, de plantes, de mineraux, etc.., offre a la curiosite de l'esprit humain un vaste spectacle dont l'ensemble est si grand, qu'il parait et qu'il est en effet inepuisable dans les details. Une seule partie de l'histoire naturelle, comme l'histoire des insectes, ou l'histoire des plantes, suffit pour occuper plusieurs hommes ; et les plus habiles observateurs n'ont donne, apres un travail de plusieurs annees, que des ebauches assez imparfaites des objets trop multiplies que presentent ces branches particulieres de l'histoire naturelle, auxquelles ils s'etaient uniquement attaches : cependant ils ont fait tout ce qu'ils pouvaient faire, et bien loin de s'en prendre aux observateurs du peu d'avancement de la science, on ne saurait trop louer leur assiduite au travail et leur patience, on ne peut meme leur refuser des qualites plus elevees ; car il y a une espece de force de genie et de courage d'esprit a pouvoir envisager, sans s'etonner, la nature, dans la multitude innombrable de ses productions, et a se croire capable de les comprendre et de les comparer ; il y a une espece de gout a les aimer, plus grand que le gout qui n'a pour but que des objets particuliers, et on peut dire que l'amour de l'etude de la nature suppose dans l'esprit deux qualites qui paraissent opposees, les grandes vues d'un genie ardent qui embrasse tout d'un coup d'oeil, et les petites attentions d'un instinct laborieux qui ne s'attache qu'a un seul point.