The Revolt Against DualismAn Inquiry Concerning The Existence Of Ideas
- 346 pages
- 13 hours of reading
Arthur O. Lovejoy Books
Arthur Oncken Lovejoy stands as a foundational figure in the history of ideas, a field he established through his rigorous examination of intellectual concepts. He pioneered the study of "unit ideas," meticulously tracing how single, often one-word, concepts combine and evolve across historical epochs. His incisive critique of pragmatism, particularly in "The Thirteen Pragmatisms," remains a significant contribution to epistemology. Beyond academia, Lovejoy actively engaged in public life, co-founding key organizations while thoughtfully considering the boundaries of intellectual freedom in the face of perceived threats.
The Reason, the Understanding, and Time
- 226 pages
- 8 hours of reading
Lovejoy's philosophical interpretation is a model of penetrating insight and helpful criticism.
The Great Chain of Being
- 382 pages
- 14 hours of reading
From later antiquity down to the close of the eighteenth century, most philosophers and men of science and, indeed, most educated men, accepted without question a traditional view of the plan and structure of the world.In this volume, which embodies the William James lectures for 1933, Arthur O. Lovejoy points out the three principles - plenitude, continuity, and graduation - which were combined in this conception; analyzes their origins in the philosophies of Plato, Aristotle, and the Neoplatonists; traces the most important of their diverse ramifications in subsequent religious thought, in metaphysics, in ethics and aesthetics, and in astronomical and biological theories; and copiously illustrates the influence of the conception as a whole, and of the ideas out of which it was compounded, upon the imagination and feelings as expressed in literature.