routledge history of philosophy vol v british philosophy and the age of enlightenment - stuart brown

Routledge History of Philosophy
Volume V
European philosophy from the late seventeenth century through most of the eighteenth is
broadly conceived as ‘the Enlightenment’, a period of reaction against the ambitious
metaphysical systems of the seventeenth-century Rationalists.
This volume begins with Herbert of Cherbury and the Cambridge Platonists and with
N
ewton and the early English Enlightenment. Locke is a key figure in later chapters, as a
result of his importance both in the development of British and Irish philosophy and
because of his seminal influence in the Enlightenment as a whole. British Philosophy an
d

the Age of Enlightenment includes discussion of the Scottish Enlightenment and its
influence on the German Aufklärung, and consequently on Kant. French thought, which
in turn affected the late radical Enlightenment, especially Bentham, is also considered
here.
This survey brings together clear, authoritative chapters from leading experts and
p
rovides a scholarly introduction to this period in the history of philosophy. It includes a
glossary of technical terms and a chronological table of important political, philosophical,
scientific and other cultural events.
S
tuart Brown
is Professor of Philosophy at the Open University. He has written
extensively on seventeenth and eighteenth century philosophy and is the author of a book
on Leibniz. He has edited several collections, including Philosophers of the
E
nlightenmen
t
(1979) and Nicholas Malebranche: his Philosophical Critics an

d

Successors (1991).
Routledge History of Philosophy
General Editors—G.H.R.Parkinson and S.G.Shanker
The Routledge History of Philosophy provides a chronological survey of the history o
f
Western philosophy, from its beginnings in the sixth century BC to the present time. It
discusses all major philosophical developments in depth. Most space is allocated to those
individuals who, by common consent, are regarded as great philosophers. But lesse
r
figures have not been neglected, and together the ten volumes of the History include
b
asic and critical information about every significant philosopher of the past and present.
These philosophers are clearly situated within the cultural and, in particular, the scientific
context of their time.
The History is intended not only for the specialist, but also for the student and the
general reader. Each chapter is by an acknowledged authority in the field. The chapters
are written in an accessible style and a glossary of technical terms is provided in each
volume.
I From the Beginnings to Plato
C.C.W.Taylor
II Hellenistic and Early Medieval Philosophy
David Furley
III Medieval Philosophy
John Marenbon
IV The Renaissance and C
17
Rationalism

G.H.R.Parkinson (published 1993)
V British Philosophy and the Age of Enlightenment
Stuart Brown
VI The Age of German Idealism
Robert Solomon and Kathleen Higgins (published 1993)
VII The Nineteenth Century
C.L.Ten (published 1994)
VIII Continental Philosophy in the C20
Richard Kearney (published 1993)
IX Philosophy of the English Speaking World: C20 Logic, Maths and Science
S.G.Shanker
X Philosophy of the English Speaking World: Meaning, Knowledge and Value
John Canfield
Each volume contains 10–15 chapters by different contributors
Routledge History of Philosophy

Volume V

British Philosophy and the
Age of Enlightenment

EDITED BY
Stuart Brown


London and New York
First published 1996
by Routledge
11 New Fetter Lane, London EC4P 4EE
Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada

by Routledge
29 West 35th Street, New York, NY 10001
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group
This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2004.
selection and editorial matter © 1996 Stuart Brown
individual chapters © 1996 the contributors
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or
utilized in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now
known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any
information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the
publishers.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book has been requested
ISBN 0-203-03005-2 Master e-book ISBN
ISBN 0-203-06005-9 (Adobe eReader Format)
ISBN 0-415-05379-X (Print Edition)
Contents


General editors’ preface

vii


Notes on contributors

ix

Chronology
xi


Introduction

Stuart Brown

1
1

Lord Herbert of Cherbury and the Cambridge Platonists

Sarah Mutton

16
2

Science and British philosophy: Boyle and Newton

G.A.J.Rogers

35
3

Locke: knowledge and its limits

Ian Tipton

56
4

Locke’s political theory

Ian Harris

78
5

George Berkeley

David Berman

101
6

David Hume on human understanding

Anne Jaap Jacobson

123
7

Hume: moral and political philosophy

Rosalind Hursthouse

147
8

British moralists of the eighteenth century: Shaftesbury, Butler and
Price

David McNaughton

166
9

The French Enlightenment I: science, materialism and determinism
Peter Jimack

186
10

The French Enlightenment II: deism, morality and politics

Peter Jimack

205
11

The Scottish Enlightenment

M.A.Stewart

224
12

The German Aufklärung and British philosophy

Manfred Kuehn

253
13

Giambattista Vico

Antonio Pérez-Ramos

273
14

Rousseau and Burke

Ian Harris

293


Glossary

314


Index of subjects
322


Index of names

332
General editors’ preface
The history of philosophy, as its name implies, represents a union of two very different
disciplines, each of which imposes severe constraints upon the other. As an exercise in
the history of ideas, it demands that one acquire a ‘period eye’: a thorough understanding
of how the thinkers whom it studies viewed the problems which they sought to resolve,
the conceptual frameworks in which they addressed these issues, their assumptions and
objectives, their blind spots and miscues. But as an exercise in philosophy, we are
engaged in much more than simply a descriptive task. There is a crucial critical aspect to
our efforts: we are looking for the cogency as much as the development of an argument,
for its bearing on questions which continue to preoccupy us as much as the impact which
it may have had on the evolution of philosophical thought.
The history of philosophy thus requires a delicate balancing act from its practitioners.
We read these writings with the full benefit of historical hindsight. We can see why the
minor contributions remained minor and where the grand systems broke down:
sometimes as a result of internal pressures, sometimes because of a failure to overcome
an insuperable obstacle, sometimes because of a dramatic technological or sociological
change, and, quite often, because of nothing more than a shift in intellectual fashion o
r
interests. Yet, because of our continuing philosophical concern with many of the same
p
roblems, we cannot afford to look dispassionately at these works. We want to know
what lessons are to be learned from the inconsequential or the glorious failures; many
times we want to plead for a contemporary relevance in the overlooked theory or to
consider whether the ‘glorious failure’ was indeed such or simply ahead of its time:
perhaps even ahead of its author.
We find ourselves, therefore, much like the mythical ‘radical translator’ who has so
fascinated modern philosophers, trying to understand an author’s ideas in their and thei
r

culture’s eyes, and, at the same time, in our own. It can be a formidable task. Many times
we fail in the historical undertaking because our philosophical interests are so strong, o
r
lose sight of the latter because we are so enthralled by the former. But the nature o
f
p
hilosophy is such that we are compelled to master both techniques. For learning about
the history of philosophy is not just a challenging and engaging pastime: it is an essential
element in learning about the nature of philosophy—in grasping how philosophy is
intimately connected with and yet distinct from both history and science.
The Routledge History of Philosophy provides a chronological survey of the history o
f

western philosophy, from its beginnings up to the present time. Its aim is to discuss all
major philosophical developments in depth, and, with this in mind, most space has been
allocated to those individuals who, by common consent, are regarded as great
p
hilosophers. But lesser figures have not been neglected, and it is hoped that the reade
r
will be able to find, in the ten volumes of the History, at least basic information about any
significant philosopher of the past or present.
Philosophical thinking does not occur in isolation from other human activities, and this
H
istory tries to situate philosophers within the cultural, and in particular the scientific,
context of their time. Some philosophers, indeed, would regard philosophy as merely
ancillary to the natural sciences; but even if this view is rejected, it can hardly be denied
that the sciences have had a great influence on what is now regarded as philosophy, and it
is important that this influence should be set forth clearly. Not that these volumes are
intended to provide a mere record of the factors that influenced philosophical thinking;
p

hilosophy is a discipline with its own standards of argument, and the presentation of the
ways in which these arguments have developed is the main concern of this History.
In speaking of ‘what is now regarded as philosophy’, we may have given the
impression that there now exists a single view of what philosophy is. This is certainly not
the case; on the contrary, there exist serious differences of opinion, among those who call
themselves philosophers, about the nature of their subject. These differences are reflected
in the existence at the present time of two main schools of thought, usually described as
‘analytic’ and ‘continental’
p
hilosophy respectively. It is not our intention, as general
editors of this History, to take sides in this dispute. Our attitude is one of tolerance, and
our hope is that these volumes will contribute to an understanding of how philosophers
have reached the positions which they now occupy.
One final comment. Philosophy has long been a highly technical subject, with its own
specialized vocabulary. This History is intended not only for the specialist but also for the
general reader. To this end, we have tried to ensure that each chapter is written in an
accessible style; and since technicalities are unavoidable, a glossary of technical terms is
p
rovided in each volume. In this way these volumes will, we hope, contribute to a wide
r
understanding of a subject which is of the highest importance to all thinking people.
G.H.R.Parkinson
S.G.Shanke
r

Notes on contributors
David Berman
is Associate Professor of Philosophy and Fellow of Trinity College,
Dublin. He is the author of
A

History of Atheism in Britain: from Hobbes to Russel
l
(1988) and George Berkeley: Idealism and the Man (1994) as well as the editor o
f

George Berkeley’s Alciphron in Focus (1993).
Stuart Brown
is Professor of Philosophy at the Open University. He wrote Leibniz
(1984) for the ‘Philosophers in Context’ series and is the author of a number of articles
on late seventeenth and eighteenth century philosophy. The books he has edite
d
include Philosophers of the Enlightenment (1979), and
M
alebranche: Philosophica
l

Critics and Successors (1991).
Ian Harris
is Lecturer in Political Theory at the University of Leicester. He is the autho
r

of The Mind of John Locke: a study of political theory in its intellectual setting (1994)
and editor of Edmund Burke: Pre-Revolutionary Writings (1993). He has also written
on the theory of international relations.
Rosalind Hursthouse
is Senior Lecturer in Philosophy at the Open University. She is the
author of several articles on virtue ethics and of Beginning Lives (1987), a book on
abortion.
Sarah Hutton
is Reader in the School of Humanities and Education at the University o

f

Hertfordshire. She is editor of Henry More (1614–1687): Tercentenary Studies (1989);
co-editor of New Perspectives on Renaissance Thought (1990); and Director of the
series International Archives in the History of Ideas. She has also revised Marjorie
Nicolson’s edition of the correspondence of Henry More and Anne Conway, The
Conway Letters (1992).
Anne Jaap Jacobson
is Associate Professor of Philosophy at the University of Houston.
In addition to her several articles on Hume, she has published papers on topics in
metaphysics, epistemology and philosophy of mind. Some of her recent work also
reflects issues in feminism/postmodernism.
Peter Jimack
is Emeritus Professor of French at the University of Stirling. He has
written books on Diderot and Rousseau, and a number of articles on aspects o
f
eighteenth century French thought, also mostly concerning Diderot and Rousseau.
Manfred Kuehn
is Associate Professor of Philosophy at Purdue University, Lafayette,
Indiana, and is the author of Scottish Common Sense in Germany, 1768–1800 (1987).
David McNaughton
is Senior Lecturer in the Philosophy Department at Keele
University. He is the author of Moral Vision (1988) and of a number of articles on
ethics, and on the philosophy of religion.
Antonio Pérez-Ramos
is Professor Titular at the University of Murcia. He is the autho
r

of Francis Bacon’s Idea of Science and the Maker’s Knowledge Tradition (1988) and a
number of articles and contributions to collective works on the history of philosophy

and of science.
G.A.J.Rogers
is Professor of Philosophy at Keele University and the Editor of the British
J
ournal for the History of Philosophy. He is the Editor (with the late Peter Nidditch) o
f
Drafts for the ‘Essay Concerning Human Understanding’ and Other Philosophica
l

Writings (vol. 1 1990, vols 2 and 3 forthcoming). He has also edited (with Alan Ryan)
Perspectives on Thomas Hobbes (1989) and, most recently, Locke’
s
Philosophy:
Content and Context (1994). He is the author of numerous articles on the history o
f

seventeenth century philosophy.
M.A.Stewart
is Professor of the History of Philosophy at the University of Lancaster. He
has worked extensively on the intellectual history of Scotland and Ireland in the
eighteenth century, and has edited Studies in the Philosophy of the Scottish
Enlightenment (Oxford, 1990).
Ian Tipton
is Reader in Philosophy at the University of Wales, Swansea. His
publications include Berkeley: The Philosophy of Immaterialism (1974), and he edite
d

Locke on Human Understanding: Selected Essays (1977) in the Oxford Readings in
Philosophy series.
Chronology

Unless otherwise specified, the dates assigned to books or articles are the dates o
f
p
ublication, and the dates assigned to musical or stage works are those of first
p
erformance. The titles of works not written in English have been translated, unless they
are better known in their original form.

Politics and reli
g
ion The arts
1620 Pilgrim Fathers sail for North America Monteverdi, Seventh Book
o
f
Madri
g
als
1621 Huguenot rebellion against Louis XIII Cardinal
Bellarmine d.
Van Dyck, Rest on the
F
li
g
ht to E
gy
p
t
1622 James I dissolves En
g
lish parliament Molière b.

1623 Maffeo Barberini becomes Pope Urban VIII Byrd d.
Bernini sculpture of David
1624 Donne, Devotions upon Emergent Occasions Hals, The Laughing
Cavalier
1625 James I of England (James VI of Scotland) d.
Succeeded b
y
Charles I
Orlando Gibbons d.
1626 Richelieu suppresses Chalais conspiracy Façade of St Peter’s, Rome,
finished
1627 Huguenot uprising in France Rembrandt, The Money
Chan
g
ers
1628 Bunyan b.
I
g
natius Lo
y
ola canonized
Velázquez, Christ on the
Cross
1629 Charles I dissolves parliament (which does not
meet a
g
ain till 1640)
Rubens knighted by
Charles I
1630 John Winthrop, English Puritan leader leads an

expedition of 1,000 settlers and founds Boston
Beginning of the High
Baroque period in Ital
y

1631 Donne d.
Dr
y
den b.
1632 Charles I issues charter for the colony of
Mar
y
land
Christopher Wren b.
Science and technolo
gy
Philoso
p
h
y

Alsted,
E
nc
y
clopaedia Bacon, Novum Or
g
anum 1620
K
eple

r
’s Epitome of the Copernican
A
stronomy banned by Catholic
1621
Church
Böhme, The Si
g
nature o
f
All Thin
g
s 1622
Pascal b.
Bacon, Of the Advancement and
P
ro
f
icience o
f
Learnin
g
1623
Briggs, Logarithmical Arithmetic Bacon, New Atlantis
Gassendi, Exercises in the Form of
P
aradoxes against the Aristotelians
Herbert of Cherbury, On Truth [De
veritate…
]

1624
Grotius, On the Law of War and
P
eace
[De Jure Belli ac Pacis]
1625
Human temperature measured by
thermometer
Bacon d. 1626
Boyle b.
Kepler compiles Rudolphine Tables
Boyle b. 1627
Harvey, Anatomical Exercise on the
motion of the heart and the blood
c. 1628 Descartes, Rules for the
D
irection of the Mind written
Thomas Spencer, The Art o
f
Lo
g
ic
k
1628
Hu
yg
ens b. 1629
Kepler d. 1630
1631
Leeuwenhoek b.

Galileo, Dialogue on the Two Chief
World S
y
stems
Spinoza b.
Locke b.
1632

Politics and reli
g
ion The arts
1633 First Particular (or Calvinistic) Baptist
Church formed at Southwark, London
Van Dyck, Charles I
1634 Oberammergau Passion Play given for the
first time
Milton, Comus
1635 Peace of Prague reduces combatants in
Thirt
y
Yea
r
’s War
Poussin, Kingdom of Flora
1636 Dutch settle in Ceylon 1636–7 Mersenne, Universal
H
armony
1637 Introduction of new liturgy in Scotland
causes riots
Buxtehude b.

Ben Johnson d.
1638 Scottish Covenant drawn up and signed Milton, Lycidas
Hobbema b.
Poussin,
E
t in Arcadia e
g
o
1639 First Bishops’ War in Scotland Monteverdi, Adone
Rubens,
J
ud
g
ment o
f
Paris
1640 Short Parliament and Long Parliament (–
1653) in England
Second Bishops’ War in Scotland
Rembrandt, Self Portrait at
the age of 34
1641 Catholic rebellion in Ireland Van D
y
ck d.
1642 English Civil War begins
All theatres in England closed by order of
Puritans (–1660)
Monteverdi, L’incoronazione
di Poppea
Rembrandt, Night Watch

1643 Accession of Louis XIV Frescobaldi d.
Monteverdi d.
1644 Queen Christina begins her reign in Sweden Rembrandt, Woman taken in
A
dulter
y
1645 Peace talks between Holy Roman Empire
and France
Milton, L’Allegro, Il
P
enseroso
1646 First En
g
lish Civil War ends Henr
y
Vau
g
han,
P
oems
1647–
8
Second English Civil War Henry More, Philosophical
P
oems
1648 Peace of Westphalia ends Thirty Years’ War
George Fox starts to preach about ‘ inner
li
g
ht’

Schütz, Musicalia ad chorum
sacrum
1649 Charles I beheaded. Scots proclaim
Charles II as king
England declared a Commonwealth,
Cromwell invades Ireland
William Drummond of
Hawthornden d.
1650 Charles II lands in Scotland Murillo, The Holy Family
with the Little Bird
Jan van Goyen, View of
D
ordrech
t
Science and technolo
gy
Philoso
p
h
y

Galileo forced by Inquisition to abjure the
theories of Copernicus
1633
Foundin
g
of the Universit
y
of Utrecht 1634
Richelieu founds Académie Française

Robert Hooke b.
1635
Harvard Colle
g
e founded Joseph Glanvill b. 1636
Descartes, Geometry
Swammerdam b.
Descartes,
D
iscourse on Metho
d
1637
Galileo, Mathematical Discourses and
D
emonstrations or/Discourses concerning
two new sciences
Malebranche b. 1638
Désar
g
ues publishes book on
g
eometr
y
1639
Coke made from coal for first time Hobbes, The Elements of Law
N
atural and Politic
1640
Cotton goods begin to be manufactured in
Manchester

Descartes, Meditations 1641
N
ewton b.
Galileo d.
Hobbes, De Cive
White, Three Dialogues on the
World
1642
Torricelli invents barometer 1643
Descartes, Principles of
P
hilosophy
Digby, Of the Immortality of
Man’s Soul
Gassendi, Metaphysical
D
isquisition
1644
Preliminary meetings of London scientists
which leads to formation of Royal Society
(1662)
Grotius d.
Herbert of Cherbury, On the
causes of errors
1645
Kircher constructs first pro
j
ection lantern Leibniz b. 1646
Torricelli d. Ba
y

le b. 1647
John Wilkins, Mathematical Magic
J.B.van Helmont (posth.), Ortus medicinae
Mersenne d.
Herbert of Cherbur
y
d.
1648
Isbrand de Diemerbrock publishes a study
of the plague
Harvey, Two Anatomical Exercises on the
Circulation of the Blood
Descartes, The Passions of the
Soul
Gassendi, An Introduction
[Syntagma] to the Philosophy of
E
picurus
1649
Descartes d.
Hobbes, The Elements of Law,
M
oral and Political
1650

Politics and reli
g
ion The arts
1651 Charles II crowned King of Scots:
defeated by Cromwell at Worcester

and flees to France
English Navigation Act
Potter, Landscape with Cows
1652 Royalists pardoned
English defeat Dutch at Battle of the
Downs
Inigo Jones d.
First opera house in Vienna
1653 Cromwell becomes Lord Protector
Pascal
j
oins Jansenists
Corelli b.
1654 Treaty of Westminster ends Anglo- Webster (posth.), Appius and Virginia
Dutch War
Queen Christina becomes a Catholic
and abdicates
1655 Cromwell dissolves Parliament
Cromwell re-admits Jews into
En
g
land
Cyrano de Bergerac d.
Colgrave, The English Treasury of
L
iterature and Lan
g
ua
g
e

1656 Spinoza excommunicated
Harrington, The Commonwealth of
Oceana
Bunyan, Some Gospel Truths Opened
Cyrano de Bergerac (posth.), The
Other World Comical History of the
States and Empires of the Moon
Opening of the first London opera
house
1657 Richard Baxter, A Call to the
Unconverted
Rembrandt, portrait of his son Titus
1658 Cromwell d. Succeeded as Lord
Protector by his son Richard (–1659)
Harrington, The Prerogative of
P
opular Governmen
t

1659 Peace of Pyrenees between France
and Spain

1660 Charles II enters London
Harrin
g
ton,
P
olitical Discourses
Dryden, Astrea Redux
Velásquez d.

1661 Louis XIV begins personal rule
Coronation of Charles II

1662 Act of Uniformity gives assent to
revised En
g
lish pra
y
er book
Molière, L’Ecole des femmes
1663 Writings of Descartes put on Index Lully, Le Ballet des arts
1664 English annex New Netherlands and
rename New Amsterdam as New
York
Molière, Le Tartuffe
Wren’s Sheldonian Theatre, Oxford,
begun
Schütz, Christmas Oratorio
1665 Bun
y
an, The Hol
y
Cit
y
J
ournal des Savants started in Paris
Science and technolo
gy
Philoso
p

h
y

Riccoli’s map of the moon Harvey,
Two Anatomical exercises
concerning the Generation of
A
nimals
Hobbes, Leviathan 1651
Guericke invents air pump Culverwell, An Elegant and Learned
D
iscourse o
f
the Li
g
ht o
f
Nature
1652
Johann Schultes’ book on surgical
instruments and procedures
p
ublished
More, An Antidote against Atheisme 1653
Jacques Bernoulli b.
Pascal and Fermat develop theory
of probability
Charleton, Physiologia
E
picurogassendo-Charltonia: a Fabrick

of Science Natural upon the Hypothesis
o
f
Atoms…
1654
Hobbes, De Corpore
Gassendi d.
1655–62 Stanley, A History of
P
hilosophy
1655
Edmund Halley b. White, Peripatetical Institutions 1656
Huygens designs first pendulum
clocks
1657–9 More’s correspondence with
Descartes (conducted 1648–9)
1657
Swammerdam observes red
corpuscles
Gassendi, Elements of Logic Hobbes, De
homine
1658
More, The Immortalit
y
o
f
the Soul 1659
Pufendorf, Two Books on the Elements of
Universal Jurisprudence
Smith, Select Discourses

1660
Boyle, The Sceptical Chemist Glanvill, The Vanity of Dogmatizing 1661
Royal Society founded Arnauld and Nicole, Logic, or the Art of
Thinkin
g

1662
Boyle, Concerning the Usefulness
o
f
Experimental Philosoph
y
1663
Clauberg, The Union of Body and Soul in
M
an
1664
N
ewton discovers differential and
integral calculus
Hooke, Micrographia
Glanvill, Scepsis Scientifica
White, An Exclusion of Sceptickes from
all Title to Dispute
1665

Politics and reli
g
ion The arts
1666 France and Holland declare war on

En
g
land
Molière, Le Misanthrope
1667 Peace of Breda between Holland, France
and En
g
land
Milton, Paradise Lost
1668 Murder of brothers De Witt in the
N
etherlands
Buxtehude becomes organist of
St Mar
y
’s, Lü
b
eck
1669 Locke’s constitution for Carolina approved,
S. Carolina founded
Rembrandt d.
Racine,
B
ritannicus
1670 William of Orange made Captain-General
of United Provinces
Molière, Le Bourgeois
g
entilhomme
Racine,

B
é
r
énice
1671 Bunyan, A Confession of my Faith Aphra Behn, The Forced
Marriage
Milton,
P
aradise Re
g
ained
1672 France invades Netherlands
Declaration of Indulgence issued by
Charles II (withdrawn 1673)
Addison b.
Dryden, Marriage à la mode
Molière, Les
f
emmes savantes
1673 Test Act excludes Roman Catholics from
office in En
g
land
Molière d.
1674 Office of Stadholders of the United
Provinces becomes hereditary in the House
of Orange
Lully, Alceste
Milton d.
1675 Vermeer d.

Wren begins rebuilding St Paul’s
Cathedral
1676
N
athaniel Bacon, Declaration of the
P
eople o
f
Vir
g
inia
Murillo, Madonna purissima
1677 William III of Orange marries Princess
Mary of England
Webster, The Displaying of Supposed
Witchcraft
Racine, Phèdre
1678 Popish Plot leads to further restrictions on
Roman Catholics
Simon, Critical History of the Old
Testamen
t

Bunyan, The Pilgrim’s Progress,
Part I Aphra Behn, Oroonoko
1679 Habeas Corpus Amendment Act in
England
Gilbert Burnet, History of the Reformation
of the Church of England, Vol. I
Scarlatti’s first opera performed

in Rome
Science and technolo
gy
Philoso
p
h
y

N
ewton measures moon’s orbit
Académie Royale des Sciences
founded
De La Forge, Treatise on the Soul of Man
Cordemoy, The Distinction between Body
and Soul
1666
Sprat, The History of the Royal
Society of London
More, Enchiridion Ethicum
Samuel Parker, A Free and Impartial
Censure o
f
the Platonick Philosophie
1667
Hooke, Discourse on
E
arthquakes
N
ewton constructs reflecting
telescope

Van Leeuwenhoek describes red
corpuscles
Glanvill, Plus Ultra
More, Divine Dialogues
1668
Swammerdam, History of the
I
nsects
1669
Malpighi studies life and
activities of silkworms
Typical symptoms of diabetes
first described
Spinoza, Tractatus Theologico-Politicus 1670
Rohault, Treatise on Physics Third Earl of Shaftesbury b.
Glanvill, Philosophia Pia
More,
E
nchiridion Metaph
y
sicum
1671
Josselyn, New England’s
R
arities Discovered
Cumberland,
P
hilosophical Disquisition on
the Laws of Nature
Pufendorf, On the Laws of Nature and of

N
ations
1672
French explorers reach
headwaters of Mississippi River
1673
1674–5 Malebranche, Search a
f
ter Truth 1674
Leibniz’s independent discovery
of the differential and integral
calculus
N
ewton begins to write his
Optics
1675–9 More, Complete Works (in Latin) 1675
Sydenham, Medical
Observations
Cuperus, The Secrets of Atheism Revealed
…through an Examination of the Tractatus
Theolo
g
ico-
P
oliticus
1676
Isaac Barrow d. Spinoza d.
Knorr von Rosenroth, Kabbala denudata.
Vol. I
Rust, A Discourse of Truth

Spinoza,
E
thics (posth.)
1677
Hugyens writes Treatise on
L
igh
t

Bernier, Epitome [Abrégé] of the
P
hilosophy of Gassendi
Cudworth, The True Intellectual System of
the Universe
1678
Halley, Catalogue of Australian
Stars
Hobbes d.
Wolff b.
1679

Politics and reli
g
ion The arts
1680 French colonial empire in North America
Filmer,
P
atriarcha
Purcell becomes organist of
Westminster Abbe

y

1681 Ro
y
al Charter of Penns
y
lvania
1682 Revocation of Edict of Nantes: 58,000
French Hu
g
uenots forced to conversion
Murillo d.
Van Ruisdael d.
1683 Rye House Plot to assassinate Charles II
discovered
Purcell made court composer
to Charles II
1684 Bermudas become crown colony Bunyan, The Pilgrim’s
P
rogress Part II
Bayle, Nouvelles de la
R
épublique des Lettres first
p
ublished in Amsterdam
1685 Charles II d. Succeeded by his brother as
James II
Monmouth’s Rebellion
Louis XIV revokes Edict of Nantes
Man

y
Protestants flee France
J.S.Bach d.
Handel b.
Scarlatti b.
1686 Lea
g
ue of Au
g
sbur
g
a
g
ainst Louis XIV Lull
y
,
A
rmide et Renaud
1687 James II issues Declaration of Indulgence for
liberty of conscience
Fénelon, Treatise on the
E
ducation of Girls
Lull
y
d.
1688 William of Orange invited to accept English
throne, lands at Torbay and enters London.
James II escapes to France
Bunyan d.

Pope b.
1689 Declaration of Rights William and Mary
proclaimed King and Queen of England and
Scotland Louis XIV declares war on Britain
Aphra Behn d.
Richardson b.
Purcell,
D
ido and Aeneas
1690 William III defeats James II at the Battle of
the Bo
y
ne
A
thenian Gazette founded in
London
Science and technolo
gy
Philoso
p
h
y

Swammerdam d. Malebranche, Treatise o
f
Nature and o
f
Grace 1680
Academy of Sciences
founded in Moscow

Thomas Burnet, Sacred
Theor
y
o
f
the Earth
1681
A
cta eruditorum first
published in Leipzig
F.M.Van Helmont, A Cabbalistical Dialogue in
A
nswer to the Opinion… that the World was made
out o
f
Nothin
g
1682
N
ewton explains
mathematical theory of
tides
Arnauld, True and False Ideas
Rust, A Discourse of the Use of Reason in Matters
of Religion
Spinoza/Blount? Miracles no Violation of Laws of
N
ature
1683
Leibniz, ‘Meditations on Knowledge, Truth and

Ideas’
Malebranche, Treatise on Ethics
1684
Berkele
y
b. 1685
Willughby, (Historia Fontenelle, Doubts about the Physical System of 1686
p
iscium)
Fontenelle, Dialogues
on the Plurality of
Worlds
Occasional Causes
Leibniz writes Discourse on Metaphysics (not
published till nineteenth century)
N
ewton,
P
rincipia 1687
Malebranche, Dialogues on Metaphysics and
R
eligion
N
orris, The Theor
y
and Re
g
ulation o
f
Love

1688
First English translation of Spinoza’s Tractatus
Theologico-Politicus
N
orris,
R
eason and Reli
g
ion
1689
Huygens, Treatise on
L
igh
t

Locke, Essay concerning Human Understanding
Locke, Two Treatises of Civil Government
N
orris, ‘Cursory Reflections upon a Book call’d An
Essay concerning Human Understanding’,
appended to Christian Blessedness
1690

Politics and reli
g
ion The arts
1691 Treaty of Limerick: William III King of Ireland
Ra
y
, The Wisdom o

f
God in the Works o
f
Creation

1692 French fleet destroyed by English at La Hogue
First Boyle lectures on natural theology given by Richard
Bentle
y

Purcell,
1693 French defeat English merchant fleet at Battle of Lagos
Blount, Summar
y
Account o
f
the Deis
t
’
s
Reli
g
ion
Congrev
1694 Death of Queen Mary, William III accepted as King in his
own right
Voltaire
1695 Locke, The Reasonableness of Christianity
End of
g

overnment press censorship in En
g
land
Henry V
Purcell d
1696 Habeas Corpus Act suspended in England
Toland, Christianit
y
not M
y
sterious

1697 French attempt to colonize west Africa
Stillingfleet, A Letter to a Deist
Matthias Earber
y
,
D
eism Examined and Con
f
uted
Canalettc
Hogarth
1698 Blasphemy Act in England
Society for Promoting Christian
Knowledge founded in London
William Sherlock, The Present State of the Socinian
Controvers
y

1699 Gilbert Burnet, Exposition of the Thirty-nine Articles Fénelon, Racine
d
Science and technolo
gy
Philoso
p
h
y

Boyle, d.
Leibniz, Protogaea
Régis, Complete Course of Philosophy, or
General System, according to Descartes’
P
rinciple
1691
Burnet, Archaeologiae
p
hilosophicae
Malebranche, The Laws of
the Communication of
Motion
Joseph Butler b.
Conway, The Principles of the Most Ancient
and Modern Philosophy
1692
Latin orations by Addison and other Oxford
students defending the new philosophy
Locke writes his Examination of P.

Malehranche’s Opinion of Seeing All Things
in God (published in 1704)
1693
Camerarius, Letters on the
Sex of Plants
Hutcheson b.
Locke writes his Remarks on Some of Mr
Morris’s Books (published 1720)
Translations of Malebranche’s Search after
Truth and Treatise on Nature and Grace
James Lowde, A Discourse concerning the
N
ature o
f
Man
1694
Huygens d.
Woodward, Essay towards a
N
atural Histor
y
o
f
the Earth
Leibniz, New System
N
orris and Mary Astell, Letters concerning the
L
ove o
f

God
1695
Blount, Anima Mundi
Damaris Masham, A Discourse Concerning
the Love of God
John Sergeant, The Method to Science 1696–7
Controvers
y
between Locke and Stillin
g
fleet
1696
Bayle, Historical and Critical Dictionary
Burgersdijck, Monitio Logica, an Abstract of
L
ogic (trans. of 1626 edition of Institutionum
logicarum)
Sergeant, Solid Philosophy Asserted, against
the Fancies o
f
the I deists…
1697
Fardella, The Nature of the Human Soul as
R
evealed b
y
Au
g
ustine
1698

Dampier explores north-west
coast of Australia
Malebranche, A Treatise of Morality (trans. of
1684 book)
Lowde, Moral Essays: Wherein some of Mr
L
ocke’s and Monsr Malebrancbe’s Opinions
are Brie
f
l
y
examined
1699

Politics and reli
g
ion The arts
1700 Pope Innocent XII d.
Gian Francesco Albani becomes Pope
Clement XI (–1721)
Congreve, The Way of the
World
1701 Act of Settlement provides for Protestant
succession in En
g
land of House of Hanover
Steele, The Funeral, or Grief
à la Mode
1702 William III d. succeeded by Queen Anne
Toland (anon.), Reasons for Addressing His

Majesty to Invite into England Their
H
i
g
hnesses

1703 John Wesley b.
Jonathan Edwards b.

1704 British take Gibraltar Swift, The Battle of the Books
Handel, St John Passion
J.S.Bach writes his first
cantata
1705 Gildon, Deist’s Manual
Tolard (anon.), Socinianism Truly Stated

1706 Tindal, Rights of the Christian Church
Marlborou
g
h conquers Spanish Netherlands
Johann Pachelbel d.
1707 Union of England and Scotland as Great
Britain
Collins, An Essay Concerning the use of
R
eason
Henry Fielding b.
Dietrich Buxtehude d.
1708 British capture Minorca and Sardinia
Charles Leslie, The Socinian Controversy

D
iscuss
’
d
Professorship of Poetry
founded at Oxford University
1709 Marlborough and Prince Eugene take Tournai
and Mons and defeat French at Malplaquet
Collins, Priestcraft in Perfection
Samuel Johnson b.
Meindert Hobbema d.
Invention of the pianoforte
First issue of The Tatle
r

1710 Mauritius becomes French The Examiner issued for first
time
1711 French capture Rio de Janeiro
Swift, An Argument against Aholishing
Christianity
Pope, Essay on Criticism
Handel, Rinaldo
Spectator begun by Addison
and Steele
Science and technolo
gy
Philoso
p
h
y

Berlin Academy of
Sciences founded
1700
Yale College founded 1701–4 Norris, An Essay towards the Theory of 1701
the Ideal or Intelli
g
ible World
Henry Lee, Anti-Scepticism
Catharine Trotter, A Defence of Mr Locke’s Essay
on Human Understandin
g
1702
Isaac Newton elected
President of the Royal
Societ
y

1703–5 Leibniz’s New Essays on Human
Understanding written
1703
N
ewton, Optics Locke d.
Clarke, A Discourse Concerning the Being and
A
ttributes of God
Toland, Letters to Serena
1704
Halley predicts return in
1758 of the comet seen in

1682
John Ray d.
Astell, The Christian Religion as Professed by A
D
aughter of the Church
1705–29 Mandeville, Fable of the Bees
Clarke, A Discourse Concerning the
Unchan
g
eable Obli
g
ations o
f
Natural Reli
g
ion …
1705
Römer’s catalogue of
astronomical
observations
Boyle d.
William Carroll, A Dissertation upon the Tenth
Chapter of the Fourth Book of Mr Locke’s Essay
Concerning Human Understanding
P.Kin
g
(ed.)
P
osthumous Works o
f

Mr John Locke
1706
Linnaeus (Carl von
Linné) b.
1707–8 Berkeley writes his Philosophical
Commentaries
Leibniz writes comments on Locke’s
‘Examination’ of Malebranche’s seeing all things
in God
1707
Hermann Boerhaave,
M
edical Principles
N
orris, A Philosophical Discourse concerning the
N
atural Immortalit
y
o
f
the Soul
1708
Berkeley, New Theory of Vision
Shaftesbury, The Moralists; a philosophical
R
hapsody
Vico, The Ancient Wisdom o
f
the Italians
1709

Jacob Christoph Le Blon
invents three-colour
p
rintin
g

Leibniz, Theodicy
Berkeley, Principles of Human Knowledge
Thomas Reid b.
1710
Shaftesbury, Characteristics
Hume b.
N
orris d.
1711

Politics and reli
g
ion The arts
1712 Last execution for witchcraft in England
Peace con
g
ress opens at Utrecht
Swift,
A
Proposal for Correcting
the En
g
lish Lan
g

ua
g
e
1713 Peace of Utrecht signed.
King Frederick I of Russia d. (succeeded
by Frederick William I)
Collins, A Discourse on Freethinking
Bentley,
R
emarks upon the Late Discourse
on Freethinkin
g
Addison, Cato
Laurence Sterne b.
1714 Queen Anne d. succeeded by George
Louis, Elector of Hanover, as George I
Gluck b.
1715 Jacobite rebellion
Louis XIV d. followed by regency of the
Duke of Orleans
Early beginning of rococo
1716 Treaty of Westminster (between Britain
and Emperor Charles VI)
Christian religious teaching prohibited in
China
Lancelot ‘Capability’ Brown b.
1717 Peter the Great in Paris
United (Masonic) Grand Lodge of England
founded
Handel’s Water Music first

performed on Thames
1718 Quadruple Alliance signed by France, the
Empire, Britain and Holland
Voltaire imprisoned in the
Bastille
1719 France declares war on Spain
Jesuits expelled from Russia
Defoe, Robinson Crusoe
Handel, director of Royal
Academ
y
of Music
1720 ‘South Sea Bubble’ bursts
Prince Charles Edward Stuart, the ‘Young
Pretende
r
’
b
.
Old Haymarket Theatre opens in
London
Canaletto b.
1721 Peter I proclaimed Emperor of All the
Russias
J.S. Bach, The Brandenburg
Concerte
Telemann arrives in Hamburg as
Director of music
1722 Defoe,
M

oll Flanders
1723 Louis XV attains majority J.S. Bach, St John Passion
Wren d.
Joshua Re
y
nolds b.
1724 Pope Innocent III d.
Pierro Francesco Orsini becomes Pope
Benedict XIII
Longman’s (publishers) founded
Science and technolo
gy
Philoso
p
h
y

Rousseau b.
Berkele
y
,
P
assive Obedience
1712
N
ewton, Prindpia (2nd edn) Berkeley, Dialogues between Hylas 1713