Customer Reviews

An Inquiry into the Human Mind on the Principles of Common Sense: A Critical Edition

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Reid's philosophy was very influential in the early nineteenth century. Unfortunately, his fame declined. But contemporary analytic philosophers recognize his contribution, and Reid is again very influential. Reid is a philosopher of historical importance and contemporary relevance.

Reid's Inquiry established him as Hume's most brilliant critic. Reid treats Hume's scepticism as a reductio against the theory of ideas, offers some independent objection to the theory, and replaces this theory with a more accurate account of the human mind. Reid's method is characterized by careful empirical observation along with keen philosophical analysis and argument.

I think that Reid's style is more beautiful and engaging than that of any of his predecessors; he writes lucidly, elegantly and with sharp wit. The Inquiry is also shorter than Reid's subsequent masterpiece, "Essays on the Intellectual Powers of Man".

However, I think that Reid's Essays are better than the Inquiry; the Essays are better organised and more comprehensive. While the Inquiry is a hint of things to come, it is no replacement for the Essays. I recommend both the Inquiry and the Essays.

This edition of the Inquiry includes a nice introduction, and some manuscript material relating to the Inquiry. I think that the most interesting of the latter is the exchange of letters between Hume and Reid. There are also helpful explanatory and textual notes. Every serious scholar and student of Reid will want this critical edition of the Inquiry.

I also recommend the critical edition of Reid's Essays published in the same series as this volume. Fortunately, unlike the Essays in this series, the Inquiry comes in a relatively cheap paperback edition. I have also posted a review of the edition of the Essays in this series on amazon.com, where I suggest some other editions. But I think that the editions in this series are the best, albeit not the cheapest.