Books in the Oxford Philosophical Texts series

A study of the work of the influencial 18th-century British philosopher, David Hume. Whilst Hume's work covers most areas of philosophy, this book presents his enquiry into the principles of morals, offers a fully annotated text and draws on advances from earlier publications.

This work claims that physical things consist of nothing but ideas in minds. Berkeley uses this thesis as the ground for a new argument for the existence of God, and the dialogue form of the text enables him to raise and respond to many of the natural objections to his position.

This student edition of Berkeley's 'Principles of Human Knowledge' includes the four letters between George Berkeley and Samuel Johnson, written in 1729-30. The text is supplemented by a comprehensive introduction, an analysis of the text, a glossary, detailed notes, and a full bibliography with guidance on further reading.

"A Treatise of Human Nature" (1739-40), David Hume's comprehensive attempt to base philosophy on a new, observationally grounded study of human nature, is one of the most important texts in Western philosophy. This volume offers the Treatise, Hume's abstract, annotation and explanation.

In this work of moral philosophy, John Stuart Mill defends the view that all human action should produce the greatest happiness overall, and that happiness itself is to be understood as consisting in higher and lower pleasures.

This volumes collects together texts including 'Discourse on Metaphysics', the 'New System' and the 'Mondalogy', and includes critical reactions to these works by some of Leibniz's contemporaries together with Leibniz's responses. The texts are supplemented by an editorial introduction, summaries, endnotes and a full bibliography.

This new edition and translation of Kant's classic work on the fundamental questions of ethics is designed especially for students. An extensive and comprehensive introduction explains the central concepts of Groundwork and looks at Kant's main lines of argument. Detailed notes aim to clarify Kant's thoughts and to correct some common misunderstandings of his doctrines.

This text includes a translation of the "Ethics" with a guide to the understanding of Spinoza's work. An introduction includes: a short biography of Spinoza; the form of his writing; an introductory guide through the philosophy of "Ethics"; and a summary of the contents of "Ethics".

This text introduces David Hume's philosophy to a European culture. It presents challenging views about the limited powers of human understanding, the attractions of scepticism, the compatibility of free will and determinism, and weaknesses in the foundations of religion.

Two hundred years after his death, Kant remains one of the most important modern philosopher. The Prolegomena are the ideal introduction to Kant's unique account of the nature of human knowledge, according to which we actively shape the world as we know it. This new edition of Kant's own summary of his philosophy is designed specially for students.