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LIST 217 - PHILOSOPHY.
One of the Most Important German books on Hume’s Philosophy
27[HUME]. PFLEIDERER, Edmund. EMPIRISMUS UND SKEPSIS in Dav. Hume’s Philosophie als abschliessender Zersetzung der englischen Erkenntnisslehre, Moral und Religionswissenschaft dargestellt von Dr. Edmund Pfleiderer ... Berlin, Druck und Verlag von Georg Reimer. 1874.£ 175
FIRST EDITION. 8vo, pp. xii, 540; small ink mark to bottom corner of title, otherwise apart from light browning in places, a clean fresh copy throughout; uncut and entirely unopened in the original publisher’s wraps, with title stamped on upper wrapper, slightly browned, but otherwise a fine copy.
First edition of one of the most important German books on Hume’s philosophy, by Edmund Pfleiderer (1842- 1902).
Pfleiderer, who was at the time of writing Professor of Philosophy at Kiel, is well known as the author of several works dealing variously with ancient philosophy (he was especially interested in Heraclitus), enlightenment English-language philosophy and Leibniz, as well as for his survey of the pessimistic movement that was prevalent in certain circles. In the present work, he turns his attention to Hume, presenting a comprehensive account of the Scotsman’s thought, both in the field of theoretical philosophy (metaphysics, if we can call it that) and in the areas of moral philosophy and religion. Pfleiderer seeks to demonstrate both the ways in which Hume was the heir to his predecessors (in particular Locke) and those in which he influenced later philosophers, explaining Hume’s philosophy in terms of its scepticism and thoroughgoing empiricism.
Jessop, p. 61; OCLC: 8687114.
28[HUME]. SOPPER, Arthur Joseph de. DAVID HUME’S KENLEER EN ETHIEK. Eerste,inleidend deel. Van Bacon tot Hume ... Leiden, A.W. Sijthoff’s uitg., 1907.£ 150
FIRST EDITION. 8vo, pp. xvii, [iii], 206; very lightly foxed in places, but generally clean throughout; uncut and partially unopened in the original publisher’s printed wraps, stitched as issued, spine a little worn, otherwise a very good copy.
A good copy of this dissertation on Hume’s epistemology and ethics, the first work of the eminent Dutch philosopher Arthur Joseph de Sopper (1875-1960).
Presented to the University of Leiden in 1907, de Sopper’s work works from the premis that empiricism is either a truism or a mistake. He argues that Berkeley provides not only the historical but also the logical link between Locke and Hume, as part of a continuous thread that started with Bacon, and puts forth a detailed exposition of the empiricist school of epistemology, focusing on the consequences of Locke’s denial of innate ideas but also dealing not only with Bacon and Berkeley but also Hobbes, as well as the school’s points of departure with the rationalism of, in particular, Leibniz. Throughout the work, however, the exposition is concerned with the impact that these philosophers had on Hume, and on the importance of epistemological empiricism on ethical thought.
The neokantian philosopher De Sopper is best known for his 1950 work Wat is philosophie?, which became one of the standard Dutch introductions to the subject. Other works include a study of contemporary Hegelianism, Hegel en onze tijd, which appeared the year after the present work.
OCLC: 8545124.
Comprehensively annotated by Theodor Ziehen
29HUSSERL, Edmund. LOGISCHE UNTERSUCHUNGEN Erster [-Zweiter] Theil. Halle A.S., Max Niemeyer, 1900 [-1901].£ 4,500
FIRST EDITION. Two volumes bound in one, 8vo, pp. xii, 257, [1] errata; xvi, 718; with comprehensive annotations throughout in ink in the hand of Theodor Ziehen, including a number of notes tipped in, and an envelope pasted on to front paste-down containing further manuscript notes by Ziehen; in contemporary calf-backed marbled boards, with spine lettered in gilt; sympathetically rebacked preserving original spine, boards rubbed, but still a good copy.
First edition, richly annotated by the important German psychiatrist and philosopher Georg Theodor Ziehen, of the founding text of phenomonology, and one of the most influential works of the twentieth century.
One of the few works of the period to have had an impact among both analytic and continental philosophers, Logische Untersuchungen was published in two parts in 1900 and 1901. In the first part, Husserl presents a thorough critique of psychologism, representing a distinct shift from his position in his earlier work, which had been heavily criticised by Frege. The second part, however, is where he sets out for the first time in detail his phenomological method, dividing his work into six “investigations”, on expression and meaning; universals and abstractions; parts and wholes; meaning and the idea of pure grammar; intentionality; and the elements of the phenomological elucidation of knowledge. Husserl’s work, which he went on to expand over the next three decades, had a profound influence on the philosophy of the last century, both in the existentialism of Heidegger and Sartre, and the logical positivism of Carnap and his followers.
The present copy is remarkable for its comprehensive annotation and interleaving by the noted psychiatrist, psychologist and philosopher Georg Theodor Ziehen, which both explain and comment on Husserl’s work and criticise, expand, and question the ideas in it. Many passages are crossed out and replaced, and many ideas elaborated, with Ziehen supplying references to other works, as well as intertextual references.
Theodor Ziehen (1862-1950) was one of the leading thinkers of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, whose interests ranged from neurology and psychology to philosophy and logic. After a doctoral thesis on psychiatric illnesses at Jena, he served as Nietzsche’s psychiatrist after his breakdown in 1889, which strengthened his interests in the relationship between philosophy and psychology. After teaching psychology and psychiatry in the Netherlands and in Berlin, he increasingly devoted his energies to philosophy, becoming professor of philosophy at Halle in 1917. He published a number of works on aesthetics, natural philosophy and logic. Uwe-Jens Gerhard and Bernhard Blanz said of Ziehen: “[He] belongs among the great universal thinkers of the end of the nineteenth century and the twentieth century. Unfortunately, his accomplishments have largely been forgotten, although contemporaries compared him to Einstein and Leibnitz” (“Theodor Ziehen”, American Journal of Psychiatry 161, 2004).
Rare Large Paper Copy
30HUTCHESON, Francis. RECHERCHES SUR L’ORIGINE DES IDEES Que nous avons de la Beaute & de la Vertu. En Deux Traites: Le Premier, Sur la beauté, l’ordre, l’harmonie & le dessein; Le Second, Sur le bien & le mal Physique et Moral. Traduit sur la Quatrieme Edition Angloise. Tome I [- II]. A Amsterdam. 1749.£ 2,250
FIRST FRENCH TRANSLATION, LARGE PAPER COPY. Two volumes, 8vo (182mm x 230mm), pp. [viii], 192; [vi], 389, [1]; apart from some minor marking, a clean fresh copy throughout; in contemporary mottled calf, spines tooled in gilt with contrasting red and green morocco labels lettered in gilt, upper joint of each volume cracked (but holding firm) and heads with minor chipping, each board with Arms stamped in gilt to centre (see below) and with the armorial bookplate of Le Chevalier de la Cressoniere on front pastedown; also with a nineteenth century note [copied from Barbier] tipped in before half-title; a handsome copy.
Scarce first French translation of Frances Hutcheson’s (1694-1746) first work, An Inquiry into the original of our ideas of beauty and virtue (first published in 1725), in which he expressed his utilitarian philosophy of moral good and evil in succinct terms: ‘In equal degrees of happiness expected to proceed from an action, the virtue is in proportion to the number of persons to whom the happiness shall extend’. Inspired by the achievements of Galileo, Newton, and a host of mathematically orientated natural philosophers in the seventeenth century, Hutcheson attempted to apply mathematical techniques to the study of moral problems, and endeavoured to calculate the degree to which an action was good or evil. The nature of this statement makes clear why Jevons considered this work to be the first in the history of mathematico-economics.
This translation (which Cousin desribes as “Au dessous du mediocre” and is perhaps, therefore by Marc- Antoine Eidous!? - particularly as he was to later translate another of Hutcheson’s works “System of moral philosophy” [Systeme de philosophie morale] in 1770) is taken from the fourth edition in which Hutcheson had made substantial additions to the text, as well as adding his separately printed additions at the end. Ironically, although the general mathematical principles of his philosophy are still present, he removed some mathematical expressions, which he had originally included, as they were ‘disagreeable to some readers’.
From 1727 Hutcheson was appointed to the chair of moral philosophy at the University of Glasgow, and thus Adam Smith’s predecessor and teacher.
Provenance: This copy belonged to Charles-Francois-Frederic II de Montmorency-Luxembourg (1702-1764), who was duke of Montmorency, and became firstly governor of Normandy and later Marshal of France, in 1757. His handsome Coat of Arms are stamped on each board. It seems likely that after he died in 1764 that his library was dispersed and the work was then bought by Le Chevalier de la Cressonniere, whose bookplate is found on the front pastedown of each volume.
Jessop, p. 144; Chuo 127 (note); Barbier 15387; OCLC: 2880763 records three copies in the US, at Arizona, Michigan and Princeton, with two further copies at Glasgow and Linkoping Stadsbibliotek, with OCLC: 47142017 adding further copies at the Library of Congress and Harvard (Houghton), Boston Public Library, McGill and Illinois. It is unclear which of these libraries own the large paper copy, but it would seem likely that most own the more common smaller format.
31HUTCHESON,Francis.A SYSTEM OF MORAL PHILOSOPHY, in Three Books;... Published from the original manuscript by his son Francis Hutcheson, to which is prefixed some account of the life, writings, and character of the author by ... William Leechman. Volume I [-II]. Glasgow: Printed and sold by R. and A. Foulis Printers to the University. London, sold by A. Millar over-against Katherine-street in the Strand, and by T. Longman in Pater-noster row. 1755.£ 2,000
FIRST EDITION. Two volumes, 4to, pp. [xii], xlviii, 358; [iv], 380; fore-edge of the front free endpaper of each volume a little chipped (unobtrusively affecting the title of volume I in one place), with light marginal waterstain in outer margin of each volume (not touching the text), otherwise a good clean copy throughout; in contemporary calf, spines ruled in gilt, expertly rebacked to style with red morocco labels lettered in gilt; with the contemporary neat ownership signature ‘Ex Libris Edvardi Palmer’ in ink on title in each volume; a very good set.
Uncommon first edition of Francis Hutcheson’s most important work, The System of Moral Philosophy, which was probably completed as early as 1742, but only published posthumously by his son in 1755.
The System of Moral Philosophy contains extensive parts in which Hutcheson anticipates the theories subsequently developed by Smith in the Wealth of Nations, particularly in the discussion of private and public property and the origin of capital. Indeed, Smith’s name appears in the subscribers’ list in the present volume, as does that of Adam Ferguson and other members of the celebrated Select Society of Edinburgh. This work is also important in the argument against slavery, and went on to be reprinted in Philadelphia and used by the anti-slavery movement.
Francis Hutcheson (1694-1746) in his early writings attacked the cynical hedonism of Hobbes and Mandeville. This led to his election to the chair of moral philosophy at Glasgow in 1729, where he remained for the rest of his life, lecturing on natural religion, morals, jurisprudence and government. ‘It was he who broke the Scholastic tradition in Scotland, introduced the method and outlook of Locke, and first used English formally in the lecture room of a Scottish university’ (Jessop, p. vi).
Adam Smith was a pupil of Hutcheson, and Dugald Stewart in his Life of Adam Smith testifies to the great influence he had not only over Smith but to the general stimulation of enquiry in Scotland at that time. The young Hume corresponded with him on ethical questions and saw him as a leading authority on philosophy. He was one of the earliest proponents of the utilitarian doctrine of ethics and the founder of a corresponding theory of economics, whose future disciples included Smith, Bentham, James Mill and J.S. Mill. Bentham’s much quoted phrase, ‘the greatest happiness of the greatest number’, is also to be found in Hutcheson. Adam Smith followed Hutcheson in the chair of moral philosophy at Glasgow.
Kress 5445; Goldsmiths 8995; Einaudi 2972; Higgs 935; Gaskell 297; Jessop, p. vi and p. 145.
32JAKOB,LudwigHeinrichvon.PRÜFUNG DER MENDELSSOHNSCHEN MORGENSTUNDEN oder aller spekulativen Beweise für das Daseyn Gottes in Vorlesungen ... Nebst einer Abhandlung von Herrn Professor Kant. Leipzig. Bey Johann Samuel Heinsius. 1786. £ 450
FIRST EDITION. 8vo, pp. [viii], lx, [iv], 334; lightly and evenly browned throughout, text clean and readable; uncut in contemporary (possibly original) drab wraps, spine lettered in a contemporary hand (sunned) with some minor chipping at foot, light wear to extremities but still a desirable copy.
First edition of this study of Moses Mendelssohn’s 1785 book Morgenstunden, oder Vorlesung über das Daseyn Gottes, by the economist and philosopher Ludwig Heinrich von Jakob (1759-1827).
Mendelssohn’s work sought to show that both the existence of God and the immortality of the soul were rationally demonstrable, and he accepted the validity of both the argument from design and the ontological argument, despite being aware of Kant’s criticisms, often regarded as decisive, of these arguments in the Critique of Pure Reason, which had first appeared four years previously.
Jakob makes clear in his preface that the present Prüfung is not concerned with the controversy (the Pantheismusstreit) that had arisen between Mendelssohn and Jacobi over Lessing’s alleged Spinozism. Rather, the aim of the work is to compare the old arguments for the existence of God, which Mendelssohn had revived in his Morgenstunden, with Kant’s refutations and alternative suggestions. However, Jakob does go on to discuss various forms of idealism, along with Epicureanism and Spinozism.
Jakob, who in addition to his position at the university of Halle also taught at the University of Kharkov, is probably best known as a follower of Adam Smith and critic of the physiocrats, contributed decisively to the spreading of Smithean doctrine in Russia, as well as introducing the term ‘Nationaloekonomie’ to Germany.
OCLC: 22433296.
The construction of philosophy
33[KANT]. HÖIJER, Benjamin Carl Henrik. AFHANDLING OM DEN PHILOSOPHISKA CONSTRUCTIONEN, ämnad til inledning til föreläsningar i philosophien ... Stockholm, tryckt hos Carl Deleen och J.G. Forsgren. 1799.£ 350
FIRST EDITION. 8vo, pp. [iv], 202, [1] errata, [1] blank; a clean crisp copy throughout, in recent marbled boards. First edition of this rare introduction to philosophy by the important Swedish philosopher Benjamin Höijer
(1767-1812).
Although little known outside his native Sweden, the Uppsala professor Höijer did much to introduce and extend Kantian ideas to a Swedish audience, although his views were in some ways closer to those of Fichte, whose work the present book anticipates. His aim here is to address some of Kant’s shortcomings, which he sees as leading to the “philosophical despair” that is initially induced by too much Hume. Höijer divides his work into three parts: the first discusses what is needed for scientific certainty in philosophy, drawing heavily on Kant’s arguments in the first Critique, and particularly his response to Hume. The second part discusses the nature and use of “construction” in philosophy, explaining the rôle of axioms, definitions, and Locke’s philosophical method, while the third and final part examines the use of philosophical scepticism, the difference between the physical and the intelligible worlds, and the nature of freedom and necessity.
OCLC records two copies only, at Augustana College and Minnesota.
34[KANT].HORVATH,KeresztélyJános.DECLARATIO INFIRMITATIS FUNDAMENTORUM OPERIS KANTIANI Critik der reinen Vernunft. Budae, typis regiae Universitatis Pestiensis. 1797.£ 425
FIRST EDITION. 8vo, pp. [iv], 188; with Hungarian library stamp and markings on title, and some sporadic foxing and spotting, but generally clean; in contemporary grey-blue boards; some paper loss to spine, and boards worn.
First edition of this attack Kant’s first Critique, and in particular on its treatment of questions relating to the nature of God, by the Hungarian Jesuit Janos Horvath (1732-1799).
Horvath’s work is divided into six chapters, which deal largely with the opening parts of the Critique of Pure Reason. He examines in detail the first section of the Critique, and the new philosophical language that Kant attempts to establish in his claims for the centrality of the distinctions between a priori and a posteriori and between analytic and synthetic judgments. He then discusses Kant’s treatment of causality, and the ways in which it diverges from that of Hume, before examining Kant’s articulation of the general problem of pure reason, and then the difficulties inherent in his treatment of space and time. The final two chapters present a critique of Kant’s categories and his version of the ontological argument.
Horvath, who was for many years professor of physics and philosophy at Trnava, is now best known for his Physica generalis (1770) and Physica particularis (1767), in which he attempted to promote the Newtonian mechanics against the more popular Cartesian system.
OCLC records copies at British Columbia, Indiana, Columbia, Pennsylvania, and Berlin.
35[KANT].MIOTTI,Peter.UIBER DIE FALSCHHEIT UND GOTTLOSIGKEIT DES KANTISCHEN SYSTEMS, nebst einer Antwort auf A. Kreil’s Bemerkungen über die jüngste Schrift des Herrn Miotti. Augsburg, 1802.£ 385
SECOND EDITION. 8vo, pp. 560, 120; with one folding engraved plate; a clean fresh copy throughout; contemporary half calf over marbled boards, spine ruled in gilt with red morocco label lettered in gilt, small chip and foot and rubbing to corners, otherwise a very good copy.
Second edition, the year after the first, of this criticism of Kant’s philosophy by the German Jesuit Peter Miotti, containing a response to Kreil’s remarks on a previous work.
Miotti divides his work into two parts, which deal in turn with the Critique of Pure Reason and the Critique of Practical Reason. He presents what is in effect a commentary on the two works, examining and criticising Kant’s arguments, and the premises on which they were based, point by point, while identifying the ways in which Kant’s thought had developed from that of earlier philosophers such as Hume, and highlighting the essential aspects of the Kantian transcendental idealism, and its applications in theology and ethics.
The work concludes with a response to Kreil’s remarks on Miotti’s Abhandlung von der Nichtigkeit und Ungründlichkeit des Kantischen Grundsätze in der Philosophie (1798), which had contained a critical account of Kreil’s Kantian logic handbook, Handbuch der Logik für seine Zuhörer.
OCLC: 22645512 records just three copies, at Harvard, Columbia and Saint Vincent College.
On the objects of perception
36KARG, Herculan and Leonard HAUSMAN. OBJECTUM OCULI Publicae Disputationi propositum In Alma, & Electorali Universitate Ingolstadiana praeside P. Leonadro Hausman ... a Domino Herculan Karg. Ingoldstadii, Typis Thomae Grass, Mense Julio, Anno MDCCXIV [ 1714].£ 325
DISSERTATION. 4to, pp. [viii], 200, [4]; some light marginal foxing in places, but generally fresh throughout; with library stamp of the Universitätsbibliothek München on verso of title; in contemporary speckled stiff wrappers.
Rare dissertation on the objects of sight and perception, and on the nature of light, disputed at the University of Ingolstadt.
The dissertation is divided into two quaestiones, dealing in turn with light and with colour. The first quaestio contains a detailed account of Aristotle’s views on the nature of light, asking whether it is a substance, and if so, whether that substance is corporeal; or, conversely, whether it is an absolute accident. Both possibilities are subjected to a number of objections and replies in the scholastic manner. The second quaestio, dealing with colour, again turns to Aristotle, discussing his notion of permanent colours, and investigating whether real colours perdure through changing light, and whether apparent colours lie in the modification of light.
The standard scholastic authors (Aquinas, Averroes, Bonaventure, et al) are all cited, but Karg also notes the views of modern physicists, most notably du Hamel and, more regularly, Boyle.
OCLC: 6428725 records copies at Maryland, Oklahoma, Munich, and the Getty.
37KARPE, Franz Samuel. DARSTELLUNG DER PHILOSOPHIE OHNE BEYNAHMEN in einem Lehrbegriffe, als Leitfaden bey der Anleitung zum liberalen Philosophieren. Des Lehrbegriffs der praktischen Philosophie Erster [-Dritter] Theil. Wien, bey C.F. Wappler und Beck, 1802-3. £ 385
FIRST EDITION. Three parts in one volume, 8vo, pp. [ii], 158; [ii], 141, [1] blank; [iv], 159, [1] blank; some light foxing throughout, but generally clean and fresh; in contemporary wrappers, handwritten labels on spine; spine worn and faded, but still a good copy.
Rare anti-Kantian work on practical philosophy, written by the Ljubljana-born philosopher Karpe (1741-1806). The first part is a general introduction of the subject, the second on moral philosophy, and the last deals with the philosophy of law. The epithet ohne Beynahmen was probably chosen to signify that the author refuses to use the technical language of the German idealist philosophy, so obfuscating to many texts.
Karpe, who was professor at Vienna University, also published in 1802 a similarly structured work, in three parts as well, on theoretical philosophy.
OCLC locates no copy outside Germany; however, University of Texas, Austin holds one copy of the theoretical philosophy.
38KERANFLECH, Charles H. de. ESSAI SUR LA RAISON, ou nouvelle manière de réfoudre une des plus difficiles et des plus belles questions de la philosophie moderne ... A Paris, chez Vatar, Libraire ... A Rennes, chez Julien Vatar, pere ... Julien-Charles Vatar, fils ... 1765.£ 385
FIRST EDITION. 12mo, pp. [iv], 387, [1] errata; apart from some minor light foxing in places, a clean copy throughout; in contemporary mottled calf, spine tooled in gilt with red morocco label lettered in gilt, expertly recased, spine and corners rubbed, but still a very good copy.
First edition of this philosophical essay, the best known work of the Malebranchian philosopher Charles Hercule de Keranflech.
Keranflech divides the work into three parts, each of which deals with a particular aspect of his philosophy of reason. In the first, he discusses the use of reason, giving his account of the nature of intellectual vision, while in the second, he examines the nature of reason and the origin and nature of ideas. The third part applies the lessons of the first two to a theory of man.
Keranflech (born c.1730) was the author of several philosophical works, including a dissertation on miracles (1773), and a study of the question of animals’ souls (1768).
OCLC records three copies, at Göttingen, National Library of Chile and Stanford.
Locke’s Toleration in French
39LOCKE, John. OEUVRES DIVERSES DE MONSIEUR LOCKE. A Rotterdam, chez Fritsch et Bohm, 1710.£ 450
FIRST FRENCH EDITION. 8vo, pp. [viii], xcix, [1], 468; title printed in red and black with central vignette; paper very lightly browned throughout, but still a clean crisp copy throughout; contemporary calf, decorated in gilt on spine, with morocco label lettered in gilt and boards edged in gilt; corners bumped, joints neatly repaired, label chipped with some loss.
Rare first complete French edition of Locke’s Essay concerning toleration which had first been published in 1689. Up to then only an epitome and a review of it by Le Clerc had been published in the same year in the Bibliotheque universelle. While defending religious toleration in general, and marking it as separate from the concerns of the civil magistrates as a private and personal matter, Locke advocates that toleration is to be withheld from religious groups who deny it to others. This view was supported by Locke’s experiences in France, where persecution of Huguenots had reached extremes between 1679 and 1685.
Also included in this volume are Jean Le Clerc’s Eloge historique de feu Mr. Locke, followed by De la conduite de l’esprit dans la recherche de la verite, Discours sur les miracles, Methode nouvelle de dresser des recueils, and Memoirs pour servir ... la vie d’Antoine Ashley, comte de Shaftesbury.
Attig 868; OCLC: 16070425.
40LOCKE, John. LOCKE’S CONDUCT OF THE UNDERSTANDING ... London, Published by
John Sharpe, Piccadilly. 1820.£ 150
12mo, pp. 155, [1] blank; engraved title with vignette portrait of Locke after Kneller; some minor light foxing in places, otherwise clean throughout; contemporary calf, boards and spine handsomely tooled in gilt, spine with red morocco label lettered in gilt (minor chipping with loss of four letters) and with minor chipping at head, nevertheless, still a handsome and appealing copy.
Rare and attractive printing of Locke’s On the Conduct of the Understanding, Some thoughts concerning reading and study for a gentleman and Elements of Natural Philosophy.
Locke left the manuscript of his Conduct of Understanding unfinished at his death in 1704 and was first published in the posthumous edition of his works in 1706. The work expands on Locke’s initial concern that truth is based on say-so and unexamined tradition.
The title vignette of Locke, after Kneller, is particularly attractive.
Not in OCLC.