James Boswell, best known for his biography of Samuel Johnson, had a very interesting December in 1764. In his tour of the Continent, Boswell had come to Switzerland, and there he met Rousseau and Voltaire. Unfortunately, he never had a chance to write up the meetings in good form, as he had with Johnson; but even though the interactions are scattered through journal entries, memoranda, and correspondence in cryptic form, it still provides a valuable sighting of the two philosophers in their natural habitat.

Antoine Arnauld (1612-1694), philosopher and Jansenist theologian.

(Cross-posted from blog.kennypearce.net)

In my post, Does Philosophy 'Trickle Down', I noted that "Berkeley thinks he has discovered two philosophical doctrines which are indeed 'the Chief Causes of Error and Difficulty in the Sciences' and also 'the Grounds of Scepticism, Atheism, and Irreligion.' These are the epistemic/linguistic doctrine of abstraction, and the metaphysical doctrine of corporeal substance." In this post I want to examine how the doctrine of abstract ideas is supposed, according to Berkeley, to lead to "Error and Difficulty in the Sciences ... [and] ... Scepticism, Atheism, and Irreligion."

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John Norris (1657-1711), Rector of Bremerton and British Malebranchean.

(Cross-posted from blog.kennypearce.net.)

One of the interesting things about George Berkeley as a historical figure is that he labors under the peculiar belief that he is writing philosophy out of pastoral concerns. I like to illustrate Berkeley's purposes by reference to the subtitles he gave to his works. The Treatise on the Principles of Human Knowledge is subtitled, "wherein the Chief Causes of Error and Difficulty in the Sciences, with the Grounds of Scepticism, Atheism, and Irreligion, are inquired into." Berkeley thinks he has discovered two philosophical doctrines which are indeed "the Chief Causes of Error and Difficulty in the Sciences" and also "the Grounds of Scepticism, Atheism, and Irreligion." These are the epistemic/linguistic doctrine of abstraction, and the metaphysical doctrine of corporeal substance.

Starting Sunday HL will be receiving a series of major upgrades. On Sunday this will affect the availability of the site -- if all goes well, for perhaps a few minutes at most, and if not, for probably no more than half an hour. Upgrades after Sunday should have no effect on the site itself, being primarily administrative.

UPDATE: The major upgrade seems to have been successful; there will be minor tweaks and upgrades throughout the week. As stated above, however, they should not affect the site itself.

Carnivalesque 44, an early modern edition, is up at Mercurius Politicus. Those interested in early modern thought might like the post on early modern female columnists at "Jane Austen's World"; there is also a good post at "diapsalmata" on the potential pitfalls of digital history for early modern scholars.

Mary Astell (c. 1666-1731), English philosopher.

The Rousseau Association has issued a call for papers for its sixteenth biennial colloquium, which will take place 25-28 June 2009 in Los Angeles, California.

The Hume Society has issued a call for papers for its thirty-sixth annual Hume Society conference, which will take place 2-6 August 2009 in Halifax, Nova Scotia.