Description
Claude Buffier: Common Sense, Metaphysics, and Sociability ventures into the largely unexplored territory of his philosophical contributions to early modern thought, unlocking the complexity of his ideas while situating him within the broader context of seventeenth- and eighteenth-century philosophy. Instead of arguing that the foundation of all knowledge is grounded in either rational speculation or empirical observation, Buffier proposes a "third way": his appeal to common sense seeks to show that, when we have exhausted all the justifications for our claims to knowledge, the bedrock where our spades are turned is the irreducible social and emotional dimension of our epistemic practices.This collection of essays explores the central tenets of Buffier's philosophy of common sense, reflects on his metaphysics of the self, identity, and duration, and examines Buffier's thought on social life, with chapters on his conceptions of freedom, social order, and the equality of the sexes. While focusing on arguments and claims central to Buffier's thought, all chapters seek to place him in his intellectual context by tracing the positions which he responded to and those he built on. Studying Buffier's philosophy contributes to widening our understanding of the main philosophical issues at stake in the early modern period. More specifically, it shows how some understudied philosophers played a crucial role in developing alternatives to Cartesianism and Locke's philosophy. It also shows how Jesuit philosophers adapted and responded to the challenges that the "new philosophy" posed to the scholasticism that had dominated Jesuit philosophy until the mid-seventeenth century.This volume seeks to re-admit Buffier into the intellectual debate, of which he was once a natural and crucial part. It clarifies what exactly was perceived as a challenge and which implicit arguments figured in the background of well-known debates.
Table of Contents
1. Introduction: Buffier's Novel Philosophy of Common Sense, Anik Waldow,Dario Perinetti, and Sandrine RouxPart I. Common Sense, Knowledge, and Truth2. Buffier and Reid on the Scope of Common Sense, Angélique Thébert3. Common Sense and Skepticism: Reid and Buffier, Elena Gordon4. Between Social Sense and Taste: Science, the Conduct of Life, and the Nature of Common Sense in Buffier, Louis RouquayrolPart II. Metaphysics of the Self, Identity, and Duration5. Buffier and Descartes on Knowing the I, Vili Lähteenmäki6. From Intimate Sentiment to Pure Self-Consciousness: Buffier and Lelarge de Lignac, Udo Thiel7. Buffier and Hume on the Identity of Objects and Selves, Dario Perinetti and Anik Waldow8. Buffier on Duration and Existence, Miren Boehm and Geoffrey GorhamPart III. Social Life, Equality, and Freedom9. Willing the Best: Buffier on Human Freedom, Esther Engels Kroeker10. The Originality and Sincerity of Claude Buffier's Pro-Woman Arguments, Manuel Vásquez Villavicencio11. Nature and Social Order: Buffier on the Woman Question, Equality, and Difference, Sandrine RouxAppendix: Letters by Claude Buffier
