Anthony Collins and his first essay (An Essay Concerning the Use of Reason in Propositions, The Evidence whereof depends upon Human Testimony)
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.12775/RF.2023.011Keywords
Christianity, deism, modern philosophy, idea, above reason, belief, evidence, knowledge, John Locke (1632–1704), John Toland (1670-1722)Abstract
The paper examines the piece entitled An Essay Concerning the Use of Reason in Propositions, The Evidence whereof depends upon Human Testimony (London 1707, 2nd edition 1709) by the British philosopher Anthony Collins (1676-1729). The analysis reveals weaknesses in the standpoint advocated in this work, consisting of the vagueness of the terminology used, ambiguity of the general thesis, according to which a necessary condition of a proposition being assented is its agreeableness to reason, as well as the insufficiency of the justification of this thesis, offered in the Essay. The philosophical and historical context of this rarely discussed work is also provided.
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