Abstract
This article examines the “progress” of Scottish metaphysics during the long eighteenth century. The scientific cultivation of natural knowledge drawn from the examples of Sir Francis Bacon (1561–1626), John Locke (1632–1704), and Sir Isaac Newton (1642–1727) was a defining pursuit in the Scottish Enlightenment. The Aberdonian philosopher George Dalgarno (1616–1687); Thomas Reid (1710–1796), a member of the Aberdeen Philosophical Society known as the Wise Club; and the professor of moral philosophy at Edinburgh University Dugald Stewart (1753–1828), contributed to that Scottish pattern of philosophical thinking. The question of the extent to which particular external senses
(sight, hearing, touch, taste, and smell) might be improved when others were damaged or absent from birth attracted their particular interest. This article shows the different ways in which Scottish anatomists of the mind resolved Molyneux’s Problem of whether or not an agent could accurately perceive an object from a newly restored external sense.
(sight, hearing, touch, taste, and smell) might be improved when others were damaged or absent from birth attracted their particular interest. This article shows the different ways in which Scottish anatomists of the mind resolved Molyneux’s Problem of whether or not an agent could accurately perceive an object from a newly restored external sense.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 22-41 |
Number of pages | 20 |
Journal | Historical Reflections / Réflexions Historiques |
Volume | 45 |
Issue number | 3 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 1 Dec 2019 |
Keywords
- common sense
- empiricism
- epistemiology
- experimental education
- Molyneux's Problem
- natural language
- Scottish enlightenment
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Bradford Bow
- School of Divinity, History & Philosophy, History - Senior Lecturer
- School of Divinity, History & Philosophy, Centre for Early Modern Studies
- School of Divinity, History & Philosophy, Centre for the History and Philosophy of Science, Technology and Medicine (CHPSTM)
- School of Divinity, History & Philosophy, RIISS (Research Institute of Irish and Scottish Studies)
Person: Academic