Silis

Author: (Eng) Berkeley
Publisher:
Publication Date: 2000-07-01
Features: A Treatise of Human Nature was first published in Dublin in early 1744. Including this edition, a total of 6 editions were printed that year, with 2 published in Dublin and 4 in London. In 1747, a revised edition was published by Berkeley. The book was not only extremely popular in Britain but was also quickly translated into other languages. For example, in 1745, some parts were translated into Dutch, French, and German, and in 1786, it was even abridged into Spanish. It was not until the 20th century that the entire book was translated into other languages, such as in 1914 into German and in 1920 into French. This was mainly because, during Berkeley's lifetime, A Treatise of Human Nature was valued in Britain and some countries on the continent due to its introduction of a new medicine that was said to have miraculous effects on many places and many diseases, even being called a "panacea." As a result, it was highly regarded as a medically valuable book. However, with Berkeley's death and the passing of the tar water controversy, especially when it was proven that tar water could not cure all diseases, A Treatise of Human Nature gradually faded from people's memories. In the following period, philosophers and historians of philosophy were not particularly interested in it. However, at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, the fate of A Treatise of Human Nature underwent a comical transformation. As mentioned earlier, its merits are mainly attributed to A.C. Fraser. He discovered the philosophical value of the book, revealed its significance in the development of Berkeley's philosophy and the broader history of philosophy, and proposed new research conclusions on Berkeley's philosophy, such as the idea that Berkeley moved from An Essay Towards a Demonstration of the Principles of Human Knowledge to A Treatise of Human Nature, actually shifting from Locke to Plato, and that A Treatise of Human Nature expressed a new philosophy different from his early philosophy. From then on, A Treatise of Human Nature became popular again in Britain and on the continent. Scholars rushed to write books and articles, leading to a large number of works on Berkeley's thought and forming a rare climax in the study of Berkeley's philosophy. Unlike the previous interest, this time people were no longer interested in the tar water in A Treatise of Human Nature but rather in the rich philosophical ideas it contained. The writing and publication of A Treatise of Human Nature were both related to the social and historical conditions of the time and to Berkeley's difficult life experiences and his special living environment in his later years. It was both a product of the historical and logical development of Berkeley's own philosophy and an inevitable result of the long-term debate between empiricism and rationalism in modern philosophy. As we know, after the "Glorious Revolution" of 1688 in England, the bourgeoisie, although sharing some political power, saw the further development of capitalist production relations, but the remnants of the feudal class and ideology still held significant positions, and feudal production relations still played a crucial role within certain ranges and to some extent. These were inharmonious with the emerging capitalist production relations and greatly hindered the development of productive forces. In response, as the spokesperson of the bourgeoisie and a perceptive thinker, Berkeley