The Early Modern Subject
Self-Consciousness and Personal Identity from Descartes to Hume
Format:Hardback
Publisher:Oxford University Press
Published:29th Sep '11
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- Paperback£47.49(9780198704409)
The Early Modern Subject explores the understanding of self-consciousness and personal identity--two fundamental features of human subjectivity--as it developed in early modern philosophy. Udo Thiel presents a critical evaluation of these features as they were conceived in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. He explains the arguments of thinkers such as Descartes, Locke, Leibniz, Wolff, and Hume, as well as their early critics, followers, and other philosophical contemporaries, and situates them within their historical contexts. Interest in the issues of self-consciousness and personal identity is in many ways characteristic and even central to early modern thought, but Thiel argues here that this is an interest that continues to this day, in a form still strongly influenced by the conceptual frameworks of early modern thought. In this book he attempts to broaden the scope of the treatment of these issues considerably, covering more than a hundred years of philosophical debate in France, Britain, and Germany while remaining attentive to the details of the arguments under scrutiny and discussing alternative interpretations in many cases.
Thiel's is a compelling interpretation. * Daniel Heller-Roazen, The TLS *
an indispensible guide for specialists in early modern philosophy and the history of subjectivity. * S. Young, CHOICE *
clearly and engagingly written. The book is easily accessible to non-specialists and has a lot to offer to specialists, in particular on account of its extensive coverage of thinkers other than the usual suspects ... there is much to learn from this rich and informative book * Marleen Rozemond, Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews *
Essential reading for any scholar interested in self-consciousness and personal identity. * Angela Coventry, Mind *
The thoroughness of Thiel's scholarship is impressive, to say the least ... an extraordinary scholarly achievement ... set[s] a new standard that will profoundly affect subsequent scholarly attempts to synoptically understand the way in which important theoretical issues in general, and not just the ones he considered, got discussed by theorists during the modern period. * Raymond Martin, Internationale Zeitschrift für Analytische Philosophie *
Thiel's book is clearly written and accessible to more than just a circle of specialists. Its main virtue is the systematized presentation of an amazing range of authors ... This book is the first pick for everyone who wants to gain insight into the abundance of early modern discussions of these topics. * Christian Barth, Philosophy in Review *
Thiel's Early Modern Subject is essential reading for any scholar interested in self-consciousness and personal identity. The book is of interest to ancient and medieval specialists and contemporary philosophers will find the work of use as well given that the early modern framework dominates current discussion of these issues. A welcome feature is the extensive discussion of not only the canonical figures of the period ... but alos less prominent figures of the period. ... This expansive approach captures a real sense of liveliness in the early modern debate. * Angela M. Coventry, Mind *
ISBN: 9780199542499
Dimensions: 236mm x 150mm x 40mm
Weight: 924g
498 pages