Learning from Six Philosophers: Descartes, Spinoza, Leibniz, Locke, Berkeley, Hume, vol. 1 - Review

Learning from Six Philosophers: Descartes, Spinoza, Leibniz, Locke, Berkeley, Hume. Volume I. Jonathan Bennett. Clarendon Press, Oxford. [pound]30.00. 403 pages. ISBN 0-19-825091-6. In this first volume Professor Bennett discusses the major themes to be found in the works of Descartes, Spinoza and Leibniz.

(The other three will be analysed in a second volume.) Professor Bennett accepts that he could not achieve a 'comprehensive treatment' of these six men within the confines of two volumes. Instead, he has chosen 'topics which I find interesting and nourishing to wrestle with'. Readers who stay the course will emerge with 'some sense of the overall shape of each of the six' but this was not his aim. His aim was to learn from these famous philosophers and the method he adopted was Socrates' -- he argues with them. To make things easier for students he uses translations where necessary. He rightly warns students not to look at bits of a philosopher's works but to place them within the context of the whole work, of the philosopher's entire writings and within the confines of the man's age and location, something often forgotten. Prof Bennett's fresh approach is seen in the first chapter in which he warns readers that much of Descartes's work was not philosophical in the narrow sense and stresses the importance of the Frenchman's scientific work. In essence, readers will find themselves in a tutorial in which their assumptions and understanding are severely tested.

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