Modern Philosophy

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  1. A Letter Concerning Toleration

    John Locke
    Edited by James H. Tully

    John Locke's subtle and influential defense of religious toleration as argued in his seminal Letter Concerning Toleration (1685) appears in this edition as introduced by one of our most distinguished political theorists and historians of political thought.

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  2. A Study of Spinoza's Ethics

    Jonathan Bennett

    “With an astonishing erudition . . . and in a direct no-nonsense style, Bennett expounds, compares, and criticizes Spinoza’s theses. . . . No one can fail to profit from it. Bennett has succeeded in making Spinoza a philosopher of our time.”
         —W. N. A. Klever, Studia Spinoza

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  3. A Treatise Concerning the Principles of Human Knowledge

    George Berkeley
    Edited by Kenneth Winkler

    Kenneth Winkler's esteemed edition of Berkeley's Principles is based on the second edition (London, 1734), the last one published in Berkeley's lifetime. Like other members of Hackett's philosophical classics series, it features editorial elements found to be of particular value to students and their teachers: analytical table of contents; chronology of the author's life; selected bibliography; note on the text; glossary; and index.

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  4. A Vindication of the Rights of Woman

    Mary Wollstonecraft
    Edited, with an Introduction and Notes, by Philip Barnard and Stephen Shapiro

    "A thoughtful and useful abridgement of an essential historical, political, and philosophical text. [Barnard and Shapiro] have managed to preserve the tone and arguments of the original while shedding much of the redundancy and lengthy quotations of external sources that can be off-putting and cumbersome for today's readers. The explanatory footnotes added to the text are helpful without being overbearing."
         —Katrin Schultheiss, George Washington University

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  5. An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding (Second Edition)

    David Hume
    Edited by Eric Steinberg

    A landmark of Enlightenment thought, Hume's An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding is accompanied here by two shorter works that shed light on it: A Letter from a Gentleman to His Friend in Edinburgh, Hume's response to those accusing him of atheism, of advocating extreme skepticism, and of undermining the foundations of morality; and his Abstract of A Treatise of Human Nature, which anticipates discussions developed in the Enquiry. In his concise Introduction, Eric Steinberg explores the conditions that led Hume to write the Enquiry and the work's important relationship to Book I of Hume's A Treatise of Human Nature.

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  6. An Enquiry Concerning the Principles of Morals

    David Hume
    Edited by J. B. Schneewind

    "A splendid edition.  Schneewind's illuminating introduction succinctly situates the Enquiry in its historical context, clarifying its relationship to Calvinism, to Newtonian science, and to earlier moral philosophers, and providing a persuasive account of Hume's ethical naturalism." 
         —Martha C. Nussbaum, Brown University

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  7. An Essay Concerning Human Understanding

    John Locke
    Abridged and Edited, with Introduction, by Kenneth P. Winkler

    “This abridgment by Kenneth Winkler is the best that has ever been done. Winkler’s judgment as to what must be kept and what may be dropped is unerring, and his literary skill has enabled him to fashion a text that reads smoothly. An illuminating Introduction and comprehensive glossary enhance the value of this volume for students.” —Vere Chappell, University of Massachusetts, Amherst

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  8. Between Kant and Hegel

    Translated and Edited, with Introductory Essays, by George di Giovanni & H. S. Harris

    This volume fills a lamentable gap in the philosophical literature by providing a collection of writings from the pivotal generation of thinkers between Kant and Hegel. It includes some of Hegel’s earliest critical writings—which reveal much about his thinking before the first mature exposition of his position in 1807—as well as Schelling’s justification of the new philosophy of nature against skeptical and religious attack. This edition contains George di Giovanni’s extensive corrections, new preface, and thoroughly updated bibliography.

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  9. Cavendish: Philosophical Letters, Abridged

    Margaret Cavendish
    Edited by Deborah Boyle

    Series: Early Modern and Modern Women Philosophers

    "Margaret Cavendish (1623–1673) is a fascinating figure who is getting increasing attention by historians of philosophy these days, and for good reason. . . . She’s an interesting advocate of a vitalist tradition emphasizing the inherent activity of matter, as well as its inherent perceptive faculties. She’s also the perfect character to open students (and their teachers) up to a different seventeenth century, and a different cast of philosophical characters. This is an ideal book to use in the classroom. The Philosophical Letters (1664) gives us Cavendish’s view of what was interesting and important in the philosophical world at that moment, a view of philosophy as it was at the time by an engaged participant. There are few documents like it in the history of philosophy. Deborah Boyle’s Introduction provides a very accessible summary of Cavendish’s natural philosophy, as well as good introductions to the other figures that Cavendish discusses in the book. Boyle’s annotations are not extensive, but they are a great help in guiding the student toward an informed reading of the texts." —Daniel Garber, Princeton University

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  10. Critique of Judgment

    Immanuel Kant
    Translated by Werner S. Pluhar
    Foreword by Mary J. Gregor

    “Pluhar maintains a fine, even tone throughout. . . . Those who have found the prospect of teaching the third Critique daunting will admire its clarity. . . . No one will be disappointed.”
          —Timothy Sean Quinn, The Review of Metaphysics

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  11. Critique of Practical Reason

    Immanuel Kant
    Translated by Werner S. Pluhar
    Introduction by Stephen Engstrom

    With this volume, Werner Pluhar completes his work on Kant’s three Critiques, an accomplishment unique among English language translators of Kant. At once accurate, fluent, and accessible, Pluhar’s rendition of the Critique of Practical Reason meets the standards set in his widely respected translations of the Critique of Judgment (1987) and the Critique of Pure Reason (1996). Stephen Engstrom's Introduction discusses the place of the second Critique in Kant's critical philosophy, its relation to Kant's ethics, and its practical purpose and provides an illuminating outline of Kant's argument.

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  12. Critique of Pure Reason

    Immanuel Kant
    Translated by Werner S. Pluhar
    Notes by Werner S. Pluhar and James W. Ellington
    Introduction by Patricia Kitcher

    “The text rendered by Pluhar is the work of an expert translator . . . the virtues of his text are manifold; his translation exhibits an incontrovertible mastery of both English and German. Equally important is the fact that Pluhar has given the original a very close read during the act of translating. . . . Pluhar consistently resists the tendency to translate woodenly word-for-word. . . . In point of fact, accuracy of translation stands in no direct relation to literalness; it is much more a product of meticulous textual reading and skilful writing, and in this respect Pluhar has no modern equals in English Kant translation.”
         —James Jakob Fehr, Kant-Studien

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  13. Critique of Pure Reason, Abridged

    Immanuel Kant
    Translated by Werner S. Pluhar
    Abridged, with Introduction, by Eric Watkins

    “Eric Watkins has done a fine job of abridging the Critique to a manageable size while preserving those sections most often assigned in a survey course, including enough of the Analytic to provide a continuous argument. Students will get a good sense of the whole from the parts he includes. I recommend it enthusiastically.”
         —Kenneth R. Winkler, Wellesley College

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  14. Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion (Second Edition)

    David Hume
    Edited by Richard H. Popkin

    Hume's brilliant and dispassionate essay "Of Miracles" has been added in this expanded edition of his Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion, which also includes "Of the Immortality of the Soul," "Of Suicide," and Richard Popkin's illuminating Introduction.

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  15. Discourse on Metaphysics and Other Essays

    Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz
    Translated by Daniel Garber and Roger Ariew

    Discourse on Metaphysics and Other Essays contains complete translations of the two essays that constitute the best introductions to Leibniz’s complex thought: “Discourse on Metaphysics” of 1686 and “Monadology” of 1714. These are supplemented with two essays of special interest to the student of modern philosophy, “On the Ultimate Origination of Things” of 1697 and the Preface to his New Essays of 1703-1705.

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  16. Discourse on Method (Cress, Third Edition)

    René Descartes
    Translated by Donald A. Cress

    By far the most widely used translation in North American college classrooms, Donald A. Cress's translation from the French of the Adam and Tannery critical edition is prized for its accuracy, elegance, and economy. The translation featured in the Third Edition has been thoroughly revised from the 1979 First Edition and includes page references to the critical edition for ease of comparison.

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  17. Discourse on Method (Kennington Edition)

    René Descartes
    Translated by Richard Kennington; Edited, with Introduction and Notes, by Pamela Kraus and Frank Hunt

    This Focus Philosophical Library edition includes a new translation of Descartes' seminal discourse, with an original essay by Richard Kennington. This text is designed to provide the student with a close translation, notes, and a glossary of key terms, facilitating access to ideas as they originally were presented and helping to make the translator's work transparent. 

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  18. Discourse on Method and Meditations on First Philosophy (Fourth Edition)

    René Descartes
    Translated by Donald A. Cress

    This edition contains Donald Cress's completely revised translation of the Meditations (from the corrected Latin edition) and recent corrections to Discourse on Method, bringing this version even closer to Descartes's original, while maintaining the clear and accessible style of a classic teaching edition.

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  19. Discourse on Method, Optics, Geometry, and Meteorology

    René Descartes
    Translated, with Introduction, by Paul J. Olscamp

    This volume preserves the format in which Discourse on Method was originally published: as a preface to Descartes’s writings on optics, geometry, and meteorology. In his introduction, Olscamp discusses the value of reading the Discourse alongside these three works, which sheds new light on Descartes’s method. Includes an updated bibliography.

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  20. Discourse on the Origin of Inequality

    Jean-Jacques Rousseau
    Translated by Donald A. Cress
    Introduction by James Miller

    Donald Cress’s highly regarded translation, based on the critical Pléiade edition of 1964, is here issued with a lively introduction by James Miller, who brings into sharp focus the cultural and intellectual milieu in which Rousseau operated. This new edition includes a select bibliography, a note on the text, a translator’s note, and Rousseau’s own Notes on the Discourse.

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  21. Ethical Philosophy (Second Edition)

    Immanuel Kant
    Translated by James W. Ellington

    This expanded edition of James Ellington's preeminent translations of Grounding for the Metaphysics of Morals and Metaphysical Principles of Virtue includes his new translation of Kant's essay "On a Supposed Right to Lie Because of Philanthropic Concerns," in which Kant replies to one of the standard objections to his moral theory, as presented in the main text of Grounding, that it requires us to tell the truth even in the face of harmful consequences.

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  22. Grounding for the Metaphysics of Morals (Third Edition)

    Immanuel Kant
    Translated by James W. Ellington

    This expanded edition of James Ellington’s preeminent translation includes Ellington’s new translation of Kant’s essay “Of a Supposed Right to Lie Because of Philanthropic Concerns” in which Kant replies to one of the standard objections to his moral theory as presented in the main text: that it requires us to tell the truth even in the face of disastrous consequences.

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  23. Hume: Moral Philosophy

    David Hume
    Edited, with Introduction, by Geoffrey Sayre-McCord

    "A genuine understanding of Hume's extraordinarily rich, important, and influential moral philosophy requires familiarity with all of his writings on vice and virtue, the passions, the will, and even judgments of beauty—and that means familiarity not only with large portions of A Treatise of Human Nature, but also with An Enquiry Concerning the Principles of Morals and many of his essays as well.  This volume is the one truly comprehensive collection of Hume's work on all of these topics.  Geoffrey Sayre-McCord, a leading moral philosopher and Hume scholar, has done a meticulous job of editing the texts and has provided an extensive Introduction that is at once accessible, accurate, and philosophically engaging, revealing the deep structure of Hume's moral philosophy."
         —Don Garrett, New York University

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  24. Hume: Political Writings

    David Hume
    Edited by Stuart Warner and Donald Livingston

    The first thematically arranged collection of Hume's political writings, this new work brings together substantive selections from A Treatise on Human Nature, An Enquiry Concerning the Principles of Morals, and Essays: Moral, Political and Literary, with an interpretive introduction placing Hume in the context of contemporary debates between liberalism and its critics and between contextual and universal approaches.

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  25. Inquiry and Essays

    Thomas Reid
    Edited by Ronald E. Beanblossom and Keith Lehrer

    Reid’s previously published writings are substantial, both in quantity and quality. This edition attempts to make these writings more readily available in a single volume. Based upon Hamilton’s definitive two volume 6th edition, this edition is suitable for both students and scholars.

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  26. Kant's Theory of Knowledge

    Justus Hartnack
    Translated from the Danish by M. Holmes Hartshorne

    While most interpretive studies of the Critique of Pure Reason are either too scholarly or too superficial to be of practical use to students, Hartnack has achieved a concise comprehensive analysis of the work in a lucid style that communicates the essence of extraordinarily complex arguments in the simplest possible way. An ideal companion to the First Critique, especially for those grappling with the work for the first time.

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  27. Lectures on Ethics

    Immanuel Kant
    Translated by Louis Infield
    Foreword by Lewis White Beck

    These lively essays, transcribed by Kant's students during his lectures on ethics at Konigsberg in the years 1775-1780, are celebrated not only for their insight into Kant's polished and often witty lecture style but also as a key to understanding the development of his moral thought. As Lewis White Beck points out in the Foreword to this edition, those who know Kant only from his rigorous and abstract intellectual critiques may be surprised by the accessibility of these essays, which "put flesh on the bones of the critical ethics," while revealing Kant as a practical moralist, greatly concerned with the nuances of human conduct and the social effects of his moral teaching. The sharply focused discussions and definitions strengthen an interpretation of Kant's more mature speculative works and remain the riches document we have for understanding the history of the preeminent ethical theory of modern times.

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  28. Leibniz and Clarke: Correspondence

    G. W. Leibniz & Samuel Clarke
    Edited, with Introduction, by Roger Ariew

    For this new edition, Roger Ariew has adapted Samuel Clarke’s edition of 1717, modernizing it to reflect contemporary English usage. Ariew’s introduction places the correspondence in historical context and discusses the vibrant philosophical climate of the times. Appendices provide those selections from the works of Newton that Clarke frequently refers to in the correspondence. A bibliography is also included.

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  29. Leibniz: Philosophical Essays

    Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz
    Translated by Roger Ariew and Daniel Garber

    Although Leibniz's writing forms an enormous corpus, no single work stands as a canonical expression of his whole philosophy. In addition, the wide range of Leibniz's work—letters, published papers, and fragments on a variety of philosophical, religious, mathematical, and scientific questions over a fifty-year period—heightens the challenge of preparing an edition of his writings in English translation from the French and Latin.

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  30. Leviathan

    Thomas Hobbes
    Edited, with Introduction, by Edwin Curley

    Designed to meet the needs of both student and scholar, this edition of Leviathan offers a brilliant introduction by Edwin Curley, modernized spelling and punctuation of the text, and the inclusion, along with historical and interpretive notes, of the most significant variants between the English version of 1651 and the Latin version of 1668. A glossary of seventeenth-century English terms, and indexes of persons, subjects, and scriptural passages help make this the most thoughtfully conceived edition of Leviathan available.

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  31. Locke: The Political Writings

    John Locke
    Edited, with Introduction, by David Wootton

    This comprehensive collection brings together the main published works (excluding polemical attacks on other people’s views) with the most important surviving evidence from among Locke’s papers relating to his political philosophy. David Wootton’s wide-ranging and scholarly Introduction sets the writings in the context of their time, examines Locke’s developing ideas and unorthodox Christianity, and analyzes his main arguments. The result is the first fully rounded picture of Locke’s political thought in his own words.

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  32. Malebranche: Philosophical Selections

    Nicolas Malebranche
    Edited by Steven Nadler

    These substantial selections from The Search after Truth, Elucidations of the Search after Truth, Dialogues on Metaphysics, and Treatise on Nature and Grace, provide the student of modern philosophy with both a broad view of Malebranche's philosophical system and a detailed picture of his most important doctrines. Malebranche's occasionalism, his theory of knowledge and the 'vision in God', and his writings on theodicy and freedom are solidly represented.

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  33. Man a Machine and Man a Plant

    Julien Offroy De La Mettrie
    Translated by Richard Watson and Maya Rybalka
    Introduction and Notes by Justin Leiber

    The first modern translation of the complete texts of La Mettrie's pioneering L'Homme machine and L'Homme plante, first published in 1747 and 1748, respectively, this volume also includes translations of the advertisement and dedication to L'Homme machine.

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  34. Man and Citizen

    Thomas Hobbes
    Edited by Bernard Gert

    Contains the most helpful version of Hobbes’s political and moral philosophy available in English. Includes the only English translation of De Homine, chapters X-XV. Features the English translation of De Cive attributed to Hobbes.

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  35. Meditations on First Philosophy (Third Edition)

    René Descartes
    Translated by Donald A. Cress

    "The new version of Cress's translation of Descartes's Meditations has attained an unusually high degree of readability . . . and at the same time, of fidelity to the original."
        —Roger Ariew, University of South Florida, and Marjorie Grene (1910-2009), Virginia Polytechnic Institute

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  36. Meditations, Objections, and Replies

    René Descartes
    Edited and Translated by Roger Ariew and Donald Cress

    This edition features reliable, accessible translations; useful editorial materials; and a straightforward presentation of the Objections and Replies, including the objections from Caterus, Arnauld, and Hobbes, accompanied by Descartes' replies, in their entirety. The letter serving as a reply to Gassendi—in which several of Descartes' associates present Gassendi's best arguments and Descartes' replies—conveys the highlights and important issues of their notoriously extended exchange. Roger Ariew's illuminating Introduction discusses the Meditations and the intellectual environment surrounding its reception.

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  37. Metaphysical Elements of Justice (Second Edition)

    Immanuel Kant
    Translated, with Introduction, by John Ladd

    This volume offers the complete text of Kant’s Metaphysics of Morals, Part I, translated by John Ladd, along with Ladd’s illuminating Introduction to the first edition, expanded to include discussion of such issues as Kant’s conception of marriage and its relevance to his view of women. An updated bibliography, glossary, and index are also provided.

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  38. Modern Philosophy (Third Edition)

    Edited by Roger Ariew and Eric Watkins

    The most widely read anthology for the study of modern philosophy, this volume provides key works of philosophers and other leading thinkers of the period, chosen to enhance the reader’s understanding of modern philosophy and its relationship to the natural sciences of the time. The third edition incorporates important contributions of women and minority thinkers into the canon of the modern period, while retaining all of the material of the previous edition. Included are works by Princess Elisabeth, Margaret Cavendish Duchess of Newcastle, Lady Anne Conway, Anton Wilhelm Amo, Lady Damaris Masham, Lady Mary Shepherd, and Emilie Marquise Du Châtelet.

    "This is a wonderful text. . . . [T]he changes made for the 3rd edition are very welcome (especially the new selections from women and philosophers of color). I can't see using any other text, particularly at this very reasonable price point." Steven Burgess, Benedictine University

    Download the complete Table of Contents (PDF)

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  39. Observations upon Experimental Philosophy, Abridged

    Margaret Cavendish
    Edited, with an Introduction, by Eugene Marshall

    "Margaret Cavendish's philosophical work is at last taking its rightful place in the history of seventeenth-century thought, but her writings are so voluminous and wide-ranging that introducing her work to students has been difficult—at least until this volume came along. This carefully edited abridgment of Observations upon Experimental Philosophy will be indispensable for making Cavendish's fascinating ideas accessible to students. Marshall's Introduction provides a helpful overview of themes in Cavendish's natural philosophy, and the footnotes contain useful background information about some of the texts and philosophers that Cavendish mentions. The additional selections from Descartes, Hobbes, Boyle, and Hooke also help contextualize Cavendish's views."  —Deborah Boyle, College of Charleston

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  40. On the Social Contract (Second Edition)

    Jean-Jacques Rousseau
    Translated by Donald A. Cress
    Introduction and New Annotation by David Wootton

    This new edition features a revision by Donald A. Cress of his bestselling 1987 translation of On the Social Contract together with Introduction, footnotes, and chronology by David Wootton, one of our leading historians of the Enlightenment.

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  41. Pensées

    Blaise Pascal
    Translated, with Introduction, by Roger Ariew

    This eloquent and philosophically astute translation is the first complete English translation based on the Sellier edition of Pascal’s manuscript, widely accepted as the manuscript that is closest to the version Pascal left behind on his death in 1662. A brief history of the text, a select bibliography of primary and secondary sources, a chronology of Pascal’s life and works, concordances between the Sellier and Lafuma editions of the original, and an index are provided.

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  42. Perpetual Peace and Other Essays on Politics, History, and Morals

    Immanuel Kant
    Translated by Ted Humphrey

    Includes an introduction, bibliography, a note on the text, glossary of some German-English translations, and an index.

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  43. Philosophical Essays and Correspondence

    René Descartes
    Edited, with Introduction, by Roger Ariew

    A superb text for teaching the philosophy of Descartes, this volume includes all his major works in their entirety, important selections from his lesser known writings, and key selections from his philosophical correspondence. The result is an anthology that enables the reader to understand the development of Descartes’s thought over his lifetime. Includes a biographical Introduction, chronology, bibliography, and index.

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  44. Philosophy of Material Nature

    Immanuel Kant
    Translated by James W. Ellington

    "Ellington has made Kant's writings seem clear and elegant. Indeed, he has produced one of this most readable translations of any of Kant's works. His essay 'The unity of Kant's thought in his philosophy of corporeal nature' appearing after the main text is a masterly interpretation of the Foundations."
        —Choice, in review of Metaphysical Foundations of Natural Science

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  45. Political Treatise

    Baruch Spinoza
    Translated by Samuel Shirley
    Prefatory Essay by Douglas Den Uyl
    Introduction and Notes by Steven Barbone and Lee Rice

    The Political Treatise, Spinoza’s final work, is a largely theoretical inquiry into the fundamental principles of political philosophy. This edition offers an exceptional translation by Samuel Shirley and a prefatory essay by Douglas Den Uyl that discusses why the Political Treatise deserves the attention of contemporary scholars. Steven Barbone and Lee Rice provide ample notes, a substantial bibliography, complete indexes of names and terms, and a comprehensive general introduction, which considers the evolution of Spinoza’s political thought in the context of the political and intellectual turmoil of the times, the relationship between the Political Treatise and the Theological-Political Treatise, and the importance of the Political Treatise to a full understanding of Spinoza’s political philosophy.

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  46. Principles of Cartesian Philosophy

    Baruch Spinoza
    Translated by Samuel Shirley
    Introduction and Notes by Steven Barbone and Lee Rice

    With meticulous scholarship and an accurate, highly readable translation, this volume sheds light not only on Spinoza’s debt to Descartes but also on the development of Spinoza’s own thought. Appearing for the first time in English translation, Lodewijk Meyer’s inaugural dissertation on matter (1683)—relevant for its comments on Descartes, Spinoza, and other thinkers of the time—is appended with notes and a short commentary. Cross-references to Descartes’s Principles of Philosophy are provided in an index, and there is an extensive bibliography.

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  47. Prolegomena to Any Future Metaphysics (Second Edition)

    Immanuel Kant
    Translated by James W. Ellington

    This edition of Prolegomena includes Kant’s letter of February, 1772 to Marcus Herz, a momentous document in which Kant relates the progress of his thinking and announces that he is now ready to present a critique of pure reason.

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  48. Rameau's Nephew, and Other Works

    Denis Diderot
    Translations by Jacques Barzun and Ralph H. Bowen
    Introduction by Ralph H. Bowen

    "It’s the best edition and the best translation available, one of Jacques Barzun’s most outstanding gifts to teachers. Bravo!”
         —William R. Everdell, St. Ann’s School

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  49. Readings In Modern Philosophy, Vol. 1

    Edited by Roger Ariew and Eric Watkins

    This anthology offers the key works of Descartes, Spinoza, and Leibniz in their entirety or in substantial selections, along with a rich selection of associated texts by other leading thinkers of the period.

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