Reflection and the Stability of Belief: Essays on Descartes, Hume, and Reid

A unifying theme of Loeb's work is epistemological - that Descartes and Hume advance theories of knowledge that rely on a substantial 'naturalistic' component, adopting one or another member of a cluster of psychological properties of beliefs as the goal of inquiry and the standard for assessing belief-forming mechanisms. Thus Loeb shows a surprising affinity between the epistemologies of the two figures -- surprising because they are often thought of as polar opposites in this respect. Descartes and Hume are unique in that their philosophical texts are accessible beyond just a narrow audience in the history of philosophy; their ideas continue to be a vital part of the field at large. This volume will thus appeal to advanced students and scholars not just in the history of early modern philosophy but in epistemology and other core areas of the discipline.

Table of Contents:
Acknowledgments ; The Articles ; Abbreviations for Editions; References to Hume ; Introduction ; I. Is There Radical Dissimulation in Descartes' Meditations? (1986) ; II. The Priority of Reason in Descartes (1990) ; III. The Cartesian Circle (1992) ; IV. Sextus, Descartes, Hume, and Peirce: On Securing Settled Doxastic States (1998) ; V. Integrating Hume's Accounts of Belief and Justification (2001) ; VI. Hume's Explanations of Meaningless Beliefs (2001) ; VII. Hume on Stability, Justification, and Unphilosophical Probability (1995) ; VIII. Hume's Agent-centered Sentimentalism (2003) ; IX. What is Worth Preserving in the Kemp Smith Interpretation of Hume? (2009) ; X. Psychology, Epistemology, and Skepticism in Hume's Argument about Induction (2006) ; XI. Locke and British Empiricism (forthcoming) ; XII. The Naturalisms of Hume and Reid (2007) ; Bibliography ; Index

About the Author :
Professor of Philosophy, University of Michigan. Author of STABILITY AND JUSTIFICATION IN HUME'S 'TREATISE'

Review :
Loeb is a well-known figure in the history of early-modern philosophy. From his earliest publications Loeb has produced imaginative and somewhat quirky interpretations of some of the standard figures in the history of philosophy... by putting together his readings of Descartes and Hume in a single volume, Loeb shows the reader some striking similarities between these two philosophers... Loeb is a distinguished, influential, and highly original philosopher whose work in the history of philosophy will appeal to non-specialists. Although he has published two books, much of his work has appears over the years as essays... Gathering these papers together in a single book is a very attractive idea I think... It'll be a first rate addition to Oxford's outstanding list.