Thomas Reed and his philosophy of common sense

2024 Author: Henry Conors | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-12 02:40

Thomas Reed is a writer and Scottish philosopher best known for his philosophical method, his theory of perception and its wide impact on epistemology. Also a developer and proponent of the causal theory of free will. In these and other areas, he offers an insightful and important critique of the philosophy of Locke, Berkeley, and especially Hume. Reed has made significant contributions to philosophical topics, including ethics, aesthetics, and the philosophy of mind. The legacy of Thomas Reed's philosophical work can be found in contemporary theories of perception, free will, the philosophy of religion, and epistemology.

Short biography

Thomas Reid was born on the estate at Strahan (Aberdeenshire) on April 26, 1710 (old style). Parents: Lewis Reid (1676–1762) and Margaret Gregory, cousin of James Gregor. He was educated at Kincardine Parish School and later at O'Neill Grammar School.

Entered the University of Aberdeen in 1723 and completed his MA in 1726. In 1731,when he came of age, he received a license to preach. He began his career as a minister in the Church of Scotland. However, in 1752 he was given a professorship at King's College (Aberdeen), which he accepted while retaining the priesthood. He received his doctorate and wrote An Inquiry into the Human Mind According to the Principles of Common Sense (published 1764). He and his colleagues founded the Aberdeen Philosophical Society, commonly known as the Wise Club.

Shortly after the publication of his first book, he was given the prestigious title of Professor of Moral Philosophy at the University of Glasgow, calling to replace Adam Smith. The philosopher retired from this position in 1781, after which he prepared his university lectures for publication in two books: Essays on the Intellectual Faculties of Man (1785) and Essays on the Active Faculties of the Human Mind (1788). Died in 1796. Thomas Reed is buried at Blackfriars Church on the grounds of Glasgow College. When the university moved to Gilmorehill, west of Glasgow, his headstone was placed in the main building.

Philosophy of common sense

The concept of common sense has been widely used in everyday speech and numerous philosophical doctrines in the past. One of the most comprehensive analyzes of common sense has been done by Thomas Reed. The purpose of the philosopher's teaching is to be an argument against the skepticism of David Hume. Reid's response to Hume's skeptical and naturalistic arguments was to enumerate a set of principles of common sense (sensuscommunis), which form the basis of rational thinking. For example, anyone making a philosophical argument must implicitly assume certain beliefs such as "I'm talking to a real person" and "There is an outside world whose laws don't change."

His theory of knowledge had a strong influence on moral theory. He believed that epistemology is the introductory part of practical ethics: when philosophy confirms us in our common beliefs, all we have to do is act on them, because we know what is right. His moral philosophy is reminiscent of Roman stoicism, with an emphasis on subjective freedom and self-control. He often quoted Cicero, from whom he adopted the term "sensus communis".

Memory and personal identification

Thomas Reed's research on memory is based on the theory of personal identification. One of the results was three critiques of Locke's theory. Reed argued that Locke was misleading because of the confusion between the concepts of consciousness, memory, and personal identity. The philosopher believed that using "consciousness" to describe awareness of past events is incorrect, because in such cases we are only aware of our memory of these events.

Perception and consciousness give direct knowledge of things that currently exist: of what the outside world is like and how mental activities succeed one another. On the other hand, memory gives direct knowledge of the past; andthese things may in turn be external or internal. Someone may recall, for example, the nauseating sensation of encountering rotten food. This person will remember not only the state of the food, in this case, but also the fact that he experiences certain unpleasant sensations.

Philosophy of Religion

Thomas Reid formed this philosophy under the influence of his dignity. Reed's main contribution to the history of the philosophy of religion concerns the way in which he, as an apologist, shifts the focus from proving the existence of God to the task of showing that it is reasonable to believe in His existence. In this Reed is an innovator and has many contemporary followers. As evidence of this, the leading defenders of the Christian faith in the Anglo-American philosophical tradition do more than just pay tribute to Reid's efforts to articulate the conditions under which religious faith becomes rational. They also widely use and develop a number of his arguments and maneuvers in the epistemology of religious beliefs.

As a man of great theological training, as well as a father of one child in six, Thomas Reed writes extensively about pain and suffering and their relation to God. However, very little has been written about the problem of evil. In his lecture notes, three types of evil are distinguished:

Evil of imperfection.
Evil that is called natural.
Moral evil.

The first refers to the fact that beings could be given a greater degree of perfection. The second form is the suffering and pain that beings endure in the universe. The third refers to the violation of the laws of virtue and morality.

Perception and knowledge of the world

In addition to being a Newtonian empiricist, Reed is considered an expert phenomenologist, well aware of the specifics of our experience, especially sensory. When touching, for example, a table, we think about it, form ideas about the subject, and also feel it. The immediate effect that objects have on us is to cause sensations. The process is always clearly associated with a certain sense organ: touch or sight. We become aware of the qualities of objects by following the sensations that these objects evoke.