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Early Responses to Hume 01 01

MORAL, LITERARY AND POLITICAL WRITINGS I
EARLY RESPONSES TO HUME’S
'This ten-volume series is among the most important contributions
to Hume scholarship since E.C. Mossner published The Life of David
Hume several decades ago'
Andrew Cunningham, Boston University

Edited and introduced by James Fieser,
University of Tennessee at Martin

The moral theory of David Hume (1711–76) is of lasting importance in
the history of philosophy both for its originality and for its influence
on later moral theories. Hume introduced the term ‘utility’ into our moral
vocabulary, and his theory is the immediate forerunner of the classical
utilitarian views of Bentham and Mill. He is famous for the position that we
cannot derive ‘ought’ from ‘is’. Some contemporary philosophers see Hume
as an early proponent of the meta-ethical view that moral judgements
principally express our feelings.

In 1741 Hume published his Essays, Moral and Political in which he consciously
followed the model of informal essay writing. He continually added to this
collection, making a lasting impact in political, economic and aesthetic theory.
This collection gathers together over seventy important early responses to
Hume’s moral theory and Essays. Each selection is introduced by Hume
EARLY RESPONSES
specialist James Fieser, who has also written a substantial general introduction TO HUME’S MORAL,
to the set.
LITERARY AND
POLITICAL WRITINGS I
FIESER

THOEMMES CONTINUUM Edited and introduced by
11 Great George Street ISBN 1-84371-117-6
Bristol BS1 5RR, UK
JAMES FIESER
Philosophy, Economics and Politics
ISBN 1 84371 117 6 9 781843 711179

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Early Responses to Hume 10 10

LIFE AND REPUTATION II
EARLY RESPONSES TO HUME’S
'This ten-volume series is among the most important contributions
to Hume scholarship since E.C. Mossner published The Life of David
Hume several decades ago'
Andrew Cunningham, Boston University

Edited and introduced by James Fieser,
University of Tennessee at Martin

During the latter half of his life, David Hume (1711–76) achieved
international celebrity as a great philosopher and historian.The sceptical
and anti-religious bent of his works generated hundreds of critical
responses, many of which were scholarly commentaries. Other writers,
though, focused less on Hume’s specific publications and more on his
reputation as a famous public figure.Wittingly or unwittingly, Hume was
involved in many controversies: the attempts to excommunicate him from
the Church of Scotland; his paradoxically close association with several
Scottish clergymen; his quarrel with Jean Jacques Rousseau; his approach to
his own death. Hume’s enemies attacked his public character while his allies
defended it. Friends and foes alike recorded anecdotes about him which
appeared after his death in scattered periodicals and books.

Hume’s biographers have drawn liberally on this material, but in most cases
EARLY RESPONSES
the original sources are only summarized or briefly quoted.This set presents TO HUME’S L I F E
dozens of these biographically-related discussions of Hume in their most
complete form, reset, annotated and introduced by James Fieser.The editor AND REPUTATION II
also provides the most detailed bibliography yet compiled of eighteenth and
nineteenth-century responses to Hume.These two volumes form the final
part of the major Early Responses to Hume series, and they conclude with an
Index to the complete ten-volume collection. FIESER

THOEMMES CONTINUUM Edited and introduced by
11 Great George Street ISBN 1-84371-115-X

Bristol BS1 5RR, UK JAMES FIESER
Philosophy and Biography
ISBN 1 84371 115 X 9 781843 711155

John Carter teaches sociology at the University Anti-Capitalist Britain is an account of the

ANTI-CAPITALIST BRITAIN
of Teesside. He has a longstanding involvement in state of left and radical politics in the UK, delivered
radical politics and campaigning, including animal
rights and the recent anti-capitalist mobilizations. ANTI-CAPITALIST through a study of recent anti-capitalist protests
and movements.The book is a collaborative project
involving writers from various universities in the
Dave Morland teaches sociology and philosophy
at the University of Teesside. He has campaigned
on issues such as the poll tax, the miners’ strike,
Anti-Capitalist Britain is a collection of accessible and
BRITAIN UK and recent participants in anti-capitalist actions.

The introduction examines the origins of the current
nuclear arms and anti-capitalism. protest movement and its re-emergence from the
informative essays on the emerging anti-capitalist movement in ‘Victory of the West’ and the free market. Caroline
the UK.Through accounts of recent anti-capitalist protests and Lucas and Colin Hines then critique the dominant
organizations, often by those involved, the book considers the neoliberal version of globalization from a green and
current state of radical politics in the UK. Its underlying theme is localist perspective.This analysis is complemented by
the emerging relationship between Marxist and other radical the work of Molly Scott Cato, who explores positive
and sustainable alternatives to capitalism and the free
organizations and the disparate anti-globalization, anti-capitalist
market. Amir Saeed also takes the new geopolitics as
and direct action groups fronting campaigns against institutions his starting point, examining the difficulties created
such as the World Trade Organization and the G8.The study for Asian Britons after 9/11 and the subsequent
argues that there has been a shift towards anarchism on the ‘War on Terror’.
British left and elsewhere.While it has a primarily domestic focus,
the book also considers British anti-capitalism in an international Other contributors consider the different forms
context. It therefore includes contributions from authors whose of protest and activism in current anti-capitalist and
green politics. John Carter and Dave Morland’s
focus is beyond the domestic and who participate in wider overview of the UK anti-capitalist scene detects an
campaigns. emerging shift towards a more libertarian mode of
struggle. One source of this is set out in Derek
Wall’s account of the Russian theorist Mikhail
Bakhtin, whose theories loom large in the ongoing
Carnival against Capitalism. Jon Purkis focuses on
the role of anticonsumerist campaigns, finding

EDITED BY JOHN CARTER
echoes of radical movements from the English Civil
Cover design: Alan Rutherford War period. Paul Taylor examines the creative ways

AND DAVE MORLAND
in which electronic ‘hacktivists’ have undermined
New Clarion Press corporations and the powerful. How all this
5 Church Row diversity and seeming fragmentation produces a
Gretton functioning ‘movement’ is the concern of Alex Plows,
Cheltenham who explores the way in which groupings,
GL54 5HG communities and individuals have supported each
England other through fluid activist networks.The book

EDITED BY concludes with a vibrant account of the Anti-G8
mobilization in Genoa, written by one of the
participants.
New Clarion Press JOHN CARTER AND
ISBN 1-873797-44-3
DAVE MORLAND
9 781873 797440

ANTI-CAPITALIST BRITAIN
ANTI-CAPITALIST
Anti-Capitalist Britain is a collection of accessible and
BRITAIN
informative essays on the emerging anti-capitalist movement in
the UK.Through accounts of recent anti-capitalist protests and
organizations, often by those involved, the book considers the
current state of radical politics in the UK. Its underlying theme is
the emerging relationship between Marxist and other radical
organizations and the disparate anti-globalization, anti-capitalist
and direct action groups fronting campaigns against institutions
such as the World Trade Organization and the G8.The study
argues that there has been a shift towards anarchism on the
British left and elsewhere.While it has a primarily domestic focus,
the book also considers British anti-capitalism in an international
context. It therefore includes contributions from authors whose
focus is beyond the domestic and who participate in wider
campaigns.

John Carter teaches sociology at the University of Teesside.
He has a longstanding involvement in radical politics and
campaigning, including animal rights and the recent anti-capitalist
mobilizations. Dave Morland teaches sociology and philosophy

EDITED BY JOHN CARTER
at the University of Teesside. He has campaigned on issues such AND DAVE MORLAND
as the poll tax, the miners’ strike, nuclear arms and
anti-capitalism.

Cover design: Alan Rutherford

EDITED BY
New Clarion Press JOHN CARTER AND
ISBN 1-873797-43-5
DAVE MORLAND
9 781873 797433

Darhbcover.1 15/3/03 4:57 PM Page 1

THE FIRST

S O C IA L I S M A N D DA RW I N I S M 1 8 5 9 – 1 9 1 4
THE FIRST DARWINIAN LEFT
DARWINIAN LEFT
David Stack is a lecturer in Modern British Darwinism and socialism were the two most exciting ideas In this first study of the relationship
History at the University of Reading. He has between Darwinism and the left in Britain,
of the late nineteenth century. One tore down a model of
previously taught at Queen Mary, University
of London and Keele University, and has nature that was static and unchanging; the other sought to do SOCIALISM David Stack argues that Darwinism provided
the ‘constitutive metaphor’ within which
the same for society. Almost inevitably the ideas of Darwinism
written widely on both the history of the
left and popular science in the nineteenth
century. His first book, Nature and Artifice:
and socialism became intertwined in the period from 1859 to A N D DA RW I N I S M modern socialism was developed.The organic
and evolutionary language of Darwinism, it
is shown, provided the discursive space in
1914.The modern socialist movement was a product of the
The life and thought of Thomas Hodgskin,
1787–1869, was published by the Royal Darwinian age and most leading socialists of the period had 1859–1914 which the new ideology of socialism was
probed, explored and developed in the
Historical Society in 1998 and he is currently studied and accepted Darwinism before reaching their political period from 1859 through to 1914.
writing a biography of the nineteenth-century maturity.This was true of socialists both in Britain and
Scottish phrenologist George Combe. The relationship between socialism and
beyond – including Annie Besant, Ramsay MacDonald, Eduard Darwinism was not instrumental – with
Bernstein, Karl Kautsky, Jack London and Prince Peter socialists simply picking and choosing
Kropotkin. Each inevitably carried something of their convenient ideas to conform to their political
Darwinism over into their understanding of socialism. In this prejudices – but isomorphic, involving a real
cross-fertilization of ideas and concepts from
study of the relationship between the two ideas, David Stack the biological to the sociological and back
argues that the contribution of Darwinism to the thought of again.This process was especially evident in
the British left has been underestimated. Darwinism played a writings of those socialists such as Alfred
Russel Wallace, Emile Vandervelde and

DAVID STACK
crucially important role both in the shift from radicalism to
Prince Peter Kropotkin who were also
socialism that occurred in the late nineteenth century and in accomplished scientists, but also helps us
enabling MacDonald and others to develop a distinctive better appreciate the stance of amateur
socialist position, marked off from liberalism to the right enthusiasts such as Annie Besant, Jack London
and Ramsay MacDonald.
and Marxism to the left.
The First Darwinian Left demonstrates how the
discursive boundaries imposed by Darwinism
profoundly influenced the construction of
Cover design: Alan Rutherford socialist ideology in Britain: marking it off
from the older radical tradition, as well as
distinguishing it from liberalism on the right
New Clarion Press and Marxism on the left. In particular, the
5 Church Row New Clarion Press crucial role of Ramsay MacDonald in
Gretton
Cheltenham
ISBN 1-873797-38-9
DAVID developing and disseminating a distinctively
Darwinian understanding of socialism among
GL54 5HG the membership of the Independent
England STACK Labour Party is analysed.

9 781873 797389

Darpapercover.1 15/3/03 4:56 PM Page 1

THE FIRST

S O C IA L I S M A N D DA RW I N I S M 1 8 5 9 – 1 9 1 4
THE FIRST DARWINIAN LEFT
DARWINIAN LEFT
Darwinism and socialism were the two most exciting ideas of the
late nineteenth century. One tore down a model of nature that
was static and unchanging; the other sought to do the same for SOCIALISM
society. Almost inevitably the ideas of Darwinism and socialism
became intertwined in the period from 1859 to 1914.The modern
socialist movement was a product of the Darwinian age and most
A N D DA RW I N I S M
leading socialists of the period had studied and accepted
Darwinism before reaching their political maturity.This was true of
1859–1914
socialists both in Britain and beyond – including Annie Besant,
Ramsay MacDonald, Eduard Bernstein, Karl Kautsky, Jack London
and Prince Peter Kropotkin. Each inevitably carried something of
their Darwinism over into their understanding of socialism. In this
study of the relationship between the two ideas, David Stack
argues that the contribution of Darwinism to the thought of the
British left has been underestimated. Darwinism played a crucially
important role both in the shift from radicalism to socialism that
occurred in the late nineteenth century and in enabling
MacDonald and others to develop a distinctive socialist position,

DAVID STACK
marked off from liberalism to the right and Marxism to the left.

David Stack is a lecturer in Modern British History at the
University of Reading. He has previously taught at both Queen
Mary, University of London and Keele University. His first book,
Nature and Artifice:The life and thought of Thomas Hodgskin,
1787–1869, was published by the Royal Historical Society in 1998.

Cover design: Alan Rutherford

New Clarion Press
ISBN 1-873797-37-0
DAVID
STACK
9 781873 797372

domestic
violence
ACTION FOR CHANGE

¢-------
--

new edition

Gill Hague and Ellen Malos

Eugenics HB cover 4/4/02 10:53 PM Page 1

genetic politics
THE ISSUES IN SOCIAL POLICY SERIES genetic politics
Anne Kerr is a lecturer in sociology ‘We are poised at a turning point of human history. Behind us lies
from eugenics to genome Genetic Politics explores the history of
at the University of York with a twentieth century marked by unprecedented technological eugenics and the rise of
specialist interests in genetics and developments, but also the nightmares of human barbarism and contemporary genomics, identifying
gender. She followed her degree in war. In front of us stretches “the century of the gene”, when we continuities and changes between
applied physics from the University are promised that science will be harnessed for the human good: to the past and the present. Anne Kerr
of Strathclyde, Glasgow, with reduce the impact of disease, to increase longevity, and to provide and Tom Shakespeare reject the two
doctoral research on gender and solutions for social problems including famine and global poverty. extreme positions that human
science at the University of It is a good moment to explore, in the field of genetics, what went genetics are either fatally corrupted
Edinburgh, going on to conduct wrong in so many countries during the first part of the twentieth by, or utterly immune from, eugenic
research into the social and century, and to ask whether we are currently repeating some of influence. They argue that today’s
historical contexts of genetics. She the mistakes of the past, or growing problems for the future.’ forms of genetic screening are far
has co-authored a number of articles from equivalent to the eugenics of
on public and professional accounts From the Introduction the past, but eugenics cannot simply
of genetic research and screening, be dismissed as bad science, or the

Anne Kerr and Tom Shakespeare
and their social implications. product of totalitarian regimes, for
its values and practices continue to
Tom Shakespeare received a shape genetics today.
first-class honours degree in social
and political science at the University Triumphalist accounts of scientific
of Cambridge and completed an progress and the merits of individual
M.Phil. in social and political theory choice mask how genetic
and a Ph.D. on the sociology of technologies can undermine people’s
disability. A former lecturer in freedom, by intensifying genetic
sociology, he is currently Director determinism and discrimination,
of Outreach at the Policy, Ethics individualizing responsibility for
and Life Sciences Research Institute, health and welfare, and stoking
Newcastle. He has served on the intolerance of diversity. Regulation
editorial boards of Critical Social Policy is largely ineffectual at limiting
and Disability and Society, and has these dangers because it is often
written widely on disability and guided by the goals of perfect health
genetics. and commercial profit. The authors
argue that we need to listen to the
people directly affected by the new
genetics technologies, especially
disabled people and women, and to
challenge the values and practices
Anne Kerr and that shape genetics.

Cover design: Alan Rutherford Tom Shakespeare
New Clarion Press ISBN 1-873797-26-5
5 Church Row New Clarion Press
Gretton
Cheltenham
GL54 5HG
England 9 781873 797266

Genetics pb cover 4/4/02 10:43 PM Page 1

genetic politics
THE ISSUES IN SOCIAL POLICY SERIES genetic politics
‘We are poised at a turning point of human history. Behind us lies
a twentieth century marked by unprecedented technological from eugenics to genome
developments, but also the nightmares of human barbarism and
war. In front of us stretches “the century of the gene”, when we
are promised that science will be harnessed for the human good: to
reduce the impact of disease, to increase longevity, and to provide
solutions for social problems including famine and global poverty.
It is a good moment to explore, in the field of genetics, what went
wrong in so many countries during the first part of the twentieth
century, and to ask whether we are currently repeating some of
the mistakes of the past, or growing problems for the future.’

From the Introduction

Genetic Politics explores the history of eugenics and the rise of

Anne Kerr and Tom Shakespeare
contemporary genomics, identifying continuities and changes
between the past and the present. The authors reject the two extreme
positions that human genetics are either fatally corrupted by, or utterly
immune from, eugenic influence. They argue that today’s forms of
genetic screening are far from equivalent to the eugenics of the past,
but eugenics cannot simply be dismissed as bad science, or the
product of totalitarian regimes, for its values and practices continue
to shape genetics today.

Triumphalist accounts of scientific progress and the merits of
individual choice mask how genetic technologies can undermine
people’s freedom, by intensifying genetic determinism and
discrimination, individualizing responsibility for health and welfare,
and stoking intolerance of diversity. Regulation is largely ineffectual
at limiting these dangers because it is often guided by the goals of
perfect health and commercial profit. The authors argue that we need
to listen to the people directly affected by the new genetics
technologies, especially disabled people and women, and to
challenge the values and practices that shape genetics.

Anne Kerr is a lecturer in sociology at the University of York with
specialist interests in genetics and gender. Tom Shakespeare is
Director of Outreach at the Policy, Ethics and Life Sciences Research
Institute, Newcastle, and has written widely on disability and genetics.
Anne Kerr and
Tom Shakespeare
Cover design: Alan Rutherford ISBN 1-873797-25-7

New Clarion Press

9 781873 797259

I
n the years of famine following World War I in East

KAPUTALA
Africa two words were coined by the local people:
mutunya and kaputala. Mutunya, meaning scramble,
refers to the frenzy of the starving crowd whenever a
KAPUTALA
supply train passed through. Kaputala refers to the
baggy shorts worn by the British troops. It was these
soldiers, according to the local Gogo tribespeople, who
were responsible for their plight.
The first-hand account of war in East Africa in The
Diary of Arthur Beagle brings out the absolute and
THE DIARY OF
tragic waste of life in a far-away war. Photographs taken ARTHUR BEAGLE
by Arthur Beagle add authenticity to his tale. With an &
extended introduction and a final skirmish-by-skirmish THE EAST AFRICA CAMPAIGN
chapter covering the East Africa Campaign from 1916

THE DIARY OF ARTHUR BEAGLE
THE DIARY OF ARTHUR BEAGLE
1916–1918
to 1918, it is indeed a fine introduction to this obscure
military campaign, and the horrors of war.
I hope all who read this account will be sickened by the
institutionalised racism, find war abhorent and feel a
great sympathy for those, black and white, forced,
coerced or duped into the ranks, for whatever reason –
be it straightforward intimidation or the sickly-sweet
lure of drum-thumping jingoism. Cutting away all the
bullshit, no matter how ‘gentlemanly’ the conduct of
some officers, a lot of people died horrible deaths
because the greed of competing capitalisms could not
coexist on the same planet.

ISBN 0-9540517-0-X

9 780954 051709

Introduced and Edited
HAND OVER HO by
FIST PRESS FP ALAN RUTHERFORD

FairPlay cover 4 26/9/05 10:30 am Page 1

FAIR PLAY AND FOUL?
Fair play and foul?
John Elder
The Nordic countries remain unique in independently managing and operating their
health care complaints mechanisms and medical regulatory bodies. They are also almost
on their own in having established statutory no-fault patient compensation schemes as
an alternative to the potentially expensive and risky civil litigation route. Moreover,
these same nations (Sweden excepted) are among the few on the planet where sweeping
patients’ rights set in stone are in place.
Sadly, the enlightened example long set by lawmakers in Denmark, Finland, Norway,
Sweden and Iceland on all these issues is still not being matched by their counterparts in
the United Kingdom – or, for that matter, anywhere else in Europe.
For instance, ‘more’ rather than total independence is the theme of the latest British
reforms following the sustained public excoriation of the previous health care
complaints and medical regulatory systems – in particular the routinely inequitable
outcomes they produced for complainants. Self-regulation continues to be the
predominant force in the operation of these new procedures. As before, only a
comparatively small proportion of complaints lodged with the National Health Service
in the UK will receive the attention of the recently established independent review bodies
– where these have been set up. Furthermore, regulation of doctors and nurses remains
in the hands of their existing, albeit extensively reformed, regulatory bodies under

FAIR
whose patronage the consideration of allegations about these professionals is also being
maintained.
A book of
The position about patients’ rights in the United Kingdom is nowhere near so
contrasting. Nonetheless, instead of a specific set of comprehensive legal entitlements revelations about

PLAY
the interests of patients and those who attend to their clinical needs are provided for,
collectively, via legislation, case law, set ethical criteria and health service policy rules.
However, the proposals for a patient compensation and redress scheme as an alternative
patients’ rights,
to the existing system of civil damages is a big step in the right direction – even if,
initially, it turns out to be a comparatively limited arrangement and then not of the
complaints

AND handling and
all-encompassing, no-fault variety.
Fair play and foul? examines all these issues in some detail and also focuses on an area
that had not been in the limelight before or during the reforms that began to take effect compensation

JOHN ELDER
in Britain since the turn of the century. It seems to have always been assumed that the

FOUL?
Health Service Ombudsman is above reproach. But is this really justified? The book
explores vital aspects of the organization that this key independent complaints arbiter
in the United
fronts in a way that has not been done before and raises matters that question the
body’s seemingly high standing.
Kingdom and
In the process of examining the subject at hand, the book accepts that healthcare is not elsewhere in
the only part of public life in Britain where self-regulation still prevails, and provides
examples of the practice elsewhere in society. Perhaps, foremost among these cases of Europe
institutional self-regulation is that relating to the British parliament itself, the body that
holds the key to enlightened public reform in all its guises.
Fair play and foul? may not be a good read in the accepted sense, but if it succeeds in
helping to bring forward the day when British citizens are conferred with the same level
JOHN
of entitlements in their relationship with health care that their counterparts in certain
other European societies take for granted, it will have achieved its end.
ELDER
£12.95 ISBN 0-95346-041-X

BOOKS 9 780953 460410

Rachel's Cover 8/9/05 3:14 pm Page 1

L THE ANTIQUARIAN LIBRARY
JI
THE ANTIQUARIAN LIBRARY OF
EMERITUS PROFESSOR DAVID A. PAILIN

OF
EMERITUS PROFESSOR DAVID A. PAILIN E I p JF

MOLLY SCOTT CATO

MARKET
SCHMARKET
BUILDING THE
POST-CAPITALIST
ECONOMY

NEW 05 Prologue of the Fourth Gospel.qxd 18/08/2005 13:09 Page 115

The Logos 115

and more radical: Scott and Witherington have discussed the importance of the
Sapiential tradition;170 Borgen has argued that the Prologue is a rabbinic reflection
on the Genesis creation myth;171 McNamara ecplored the links with the
Palestinian Targumim;172 other scholars have argued for specific parallels for
specific verses.
As a common leceme in Koiné, it is not surprising that lo&goj appears over
twelve hundred times in the Septuagint. However, it is clear that lo&goj does not
always translate the Hebrew phrase hwhy rbd. This mismatch is quite important
because it suggests that at least for the translators of the Septuagint, there was
no definite correlation between the concept of ‘word of God’ in the Hebrew Bible
and the leceme lo&goj per se. An ecample of this mismatch can be found in a
list of the occurrences of hwhy rbd and rbd in Genesis:

Hebrew Text Septuagint
Genesis 4.23 K7mele y#'n&; yliw&q N(ama#;$ hl,fciw a)kou&sate& mou th=j fwnh=j
ytirfm)i hn%fz');h
; gunai=kej Lamex e)nwti&sasqe&
mou touj lo&gouj
Genesis 15.1 hyfhf hl%e)'hf Myribfd@:ha rxa)a meta de ta r(h&mata tau=ta
hzexjm%aba% Mrfb;)a-l)e hwfhy;-rbad e)genh&qh r(h=ma kuri&ou proj
Abram e)n o(ra&mati
Genesis 15.4 wylf)e hwfhy;-rbad; hn%"hw;
i kai eu)quj fwnh kuri&ou
e)ge&neto proj au)ton
Genesis 29.13 t) Nbflfl; rp%say;wa kai dihgh&sato tw|~ Laban
hl%e)”h Myribfd;ha-lk%f pa&ntaj touj lo&gouj tou&touj
Genesis 34.18 rwomxj yn"y("b%; Mheyr"b;di w%b+;y;y%iw kai h1resan oi( lo&goi
e)nanti&on Emmwr kai e)nanti&on
rwomxj-Nb%e Mke#$; yn"y("bw% Suxem tou= ui(ou= Emmwr

The table provides a good ecample of the problems associated with attempting
to analyse the intertext for lo&goj in the Hebrew Bible and Septuagint. Firstly,
we can see that rbd is variously translated as r(h&ma (kuri&ou, fwnh& (kuri&ou and
lo&goj and, conversely, that lo&goj is also used to translate hrm) (‘word’,
utterance’). This is important, since it shows that while lo&goj was one way in
which (hwhy-)rbd could be translated, it was not the only way. The alternative
translations are also significantly common in the Septuagint as a whole. The
phrase r(h&ma kuri&ou occurs 48 times, not only as a reference to the command
of the Lord (for ecample, Ecodus 9.20, Numbers 14.41) but also in references
suggesting a dynamic word, which meets with people and is the basis of their

170. Scott, Sophia; Witherington, John’s Wisdom
171. P. Borgen, ‘Observations on the Targumic Character of the Prologue of John’ NTS 16
(1970), pp. 288–295 and ‘Logos was the True Light’ in Borgen, Logos was the true light and
other essays on the Gospel of John (Trondheim: Tapir Publications, 1983)
172. M. McNamara, ‘Logos of the Fourth Gospel and Memra of the Palestinian Targum
(Ex 12:42)’, ExpTim 79 (1968), pp. 115–17


80 The Prologue of the Fourth Gospel

of what is communicated rather than any particular ‘word’ itself.20 Normally, a
reader would look to a polysemic lexeme’s context in order to disambiguate its
meaning. However, in the Prologue, there is little context since the text has only
just begun. In this instance, perhaps the wider context of New Testament liter-
ature and the use of that literature within the Johannine community may
provide some background.

5.5 Christian Intertexts
5.5.1 In the Gospels in General
lo&goj occurs, in its various forms, frequently in the Gospels. For the most part,
it refers to the message about Jesus, the ‘preached word’, rather than the
‘incarnate word’.21 So, Dunn offers many examples of the use of the lexeme to
mean the ‘preached word’ and shows how broadly this term was used and
accepted across the Christian traditions from the earliest Pauline material,
through the Gospels and on into the later writings. For now, we will focus on
the use of the lexeme in the Gospels, before looking at Johannine material and
then at the rest of the New Testament.
Within the range of meanings for lo&goj in the Synoptics, the central concept
seems to reflect normal Koiné usage as ‘a message communicated’. So, in
Matthew 7.28–29 and its parallels:

Matthew 7.28–29 Mark 1.21–22 Luke 7.1; 4.32

kai e0ge&neto o3te e0te&lesen kai ei0sporeu&ontai ei0j e0peidh e0plh&rwsen
o( I)hsou=j touj lo&gouj Kafarnaou&m: kai eu0quj pa&nta ta_ r9h&mata
tou&touj, toi=j sa&bbasin ei0selqwn au0tou= ei0j ta_ a)koa_j
ei0j thn sunagwghn laou=, ei0sh=lqen
e0di&dasken. ei0j Kafarnaou&m.

e0ceplh&ssonto oi9 o2xloi kai e0ceplh&ssonto e0pi th|= kai e0ceplh&ssonto
e0pi th=| didaxh=| au0tou=: didaxh|= au0tou=: e0pi th|= didaxh|= au0tou=,
o4ti e0n e0cousi/a| h]n o(
lo&goj au0tou=.

20. Dodd, Interpretation, pp. 263–67; Davies, Rhetoric and Reference, p. 121: ‘In English
Bibles lo&goj is usually translated ‘Word’, but this is the translation of the Latin Vulgate verbum.
It is inappropriate as a rendering of the Greek lo&goj. The Greek for ‘word’ is r(h=ma or o!noma'.
Mark Edwards gives a brief reception history, including a reference to the same point, John
(Blackwell Bible Commentary; Oxford: Blackwell, 2004), pp. 16–17; Davies quotes from
Goodenough’s introduction to Philo in which he makes a similar argument based upon a lexical
taxonomy drawn from LSJ. Such arguments do not stop the vast majority of commentators and
translators from using ‘Word’ as the translation: for example, Malina and Rohrbaugh, Social
Science Commentary, pp. 35–37; Kruse, John, pp. 58–65
21. Brown, John, p. 519; J.D.G. Dunn, Christology in the Making: An Inquiry into the
Origins of the Doctrine of the Incarnation (London: SCM Press, 2nd edn, 1989), pp. 230–39



So, as the gospel progresses, and especially when ko&smoj responds, the use of
the lexeme becomes more and more pejorative. It is interesting to note that a
similar deterioration happens in the use of the lexeme in the Prologue:

Use 1: o4 fwti&zei pa&nta a!nqrwpon e)rxo&menon ei)j ton ko&smon (v.9)
In this use there is a positive association with the coming of light into the
world. We have already seen the opposition of darkness to light (v.5) and the
subsequent association of negativity with darkness. Here ko&smoj is associated
with the light and so disassociated from darkness. ko&smoj is therefore positive
in this context.
Use 2: e0n tw|~ ko&smw|~ h]n (v.10a)
There is another positive association here in that the Logos/Life/Light has
chosen to be in the ko&smoj. Once again such association means that the
world is characterized in a positive way.
Use 3: kai o( ko&smoj di’ au)tou= e)ge&neto (v.10b)
There is yet another positive association in that the Logos is said to have had
a role in creating/ordering the world.
Use 4: kai o( ko&smoj au)ton ou)k e1gnw (v.10c)
There is a negative association here in that the ko&smoj is negligent in recog-
nising its creator. Here, the first time that the world is the subject of an
action, it is depicted as failing to achieve the desired result. The idea that the
ko&smoj can react, even negatively, suggests that at least in this phrase reference
is being made to humanity, and thus an inherently incompetent humanity.181

The first three uses of the term, which all focus on the activity of lo&goj in
relation to ko&smoj, have positive overtones whereas the final use, the only time
in which the Prologue talks of the specific activity of ko&smoj, is negative. This
analysis seems to reflect Cassem’s findings for the whole gospel.182 We see that
ko&smoj is a neutral term when it is the object of activity: the place where light
comes to illuminate; the place where lo&goj dwells; that which was created by
lo&goj. It refers to the world, especially the world of humanity, but does not hint
that this is a negative reference. In fact, the world is seen to be the object of the
Logos’ attention and is therefore given privileged association with light and life.183
Ultimately, however, the world’s activity shows that this attention seems to be
unwarranted. The Logos is associated with this world, is present within it and
created it despite its ignorance. Boismard sums up the ambiguity well: ‘De soi,
le monde n’est pas mauvais, puisque Dieu l’aime, et qu’il a envoyé sons Fils pour
le sauveur. Mais en fait, le monde à refusé de recevoir le message du Verbe, et
c’est pourquoi il prend si souvent une nuance péjorative chez saint Jean’.184
Indeed, this ambiguity about whether the world is good or bad may well
reflect an antisociety trait. ‘The world’ represents those who do not receive o(
lo&goj and so cannot be part of the Johannine community; they become the

181. Hendricksen, John, p. 80.
182. Compare Brown, St John, p. 509; Morris, John, p. 97
183. Witherington, John’s Wisdom, p. 52; Beasley-Murray, John, p. 12
184. Boismard, Prologue de Saint Jean, p. 50 : ‘In itself, the world is not evil, since God
loves it, and has sent his Son to save it. But in fact, the world has refused to receive the Word’s
message, and that is why it so often takes on a pejorative sense in the Johannine material.’


The Logos 87

subject in his book on the development of Christology in the first centuries of
the Church, in which he outlines a number of key stages.42 Firstly, very early in
the NT tradition ‘the word/message’ refers to the proclamation of the gospel.43
We have already seen that this tradition is dominant within the Synoptic Gospels,
the Fourth Gospel outside the Prologue, and the rest of the Johannine literature.
However, Dunn then traces a development in the tradition by which ‘vigorous
metaphors or near personifications’ are associated with lo&goj. The final stage
according to Dunn is that the ‘message’, so clearly centred upon Jesus, is actually
identified with Jesus.44 As Dunn points out:

It is not that he identifies Christ with the divine Logos of Hellenistic Judaism or Stoicism
and goes on from that to identify Christ (the Logos) with the word (logos) of preaching;
it is rather that Christ is the heart and substance of the kerygma, not so much the Word
as the word preached.

Dunn draws attention to two key passages, which on the surface seem to be very
close to the understanding of the Logos in the Prologue, Luke 1.2 and Acts
10.36–37a:45

Luke 1.2: kaqwj pare&dosan h(mi=n oi( a)p' a)rxh=j au)to&ptai kai u(phre&tai geno&menoi
tou= lo&gou…
Acts 10.36–37a: ton lo&gon [o3n] a)pe&steilen toi=j ui(oi=j I)srahl eu)aggelizo&menoj
ei)rh&nhn dia I)hsou= Xristou=, ou[to&j e)stin pa&ntwn ku&rioj, u(mei=j oi1date to geno&menon
r(h=ma kaq' o3lhj th=j I)oudai&aj

It would be possible to see in these texts a reference to a personified ‘Word’,
incarnated in Jesus. However, it would be wrong to do so. Both references simply
show the degree to which Jesus is central to the message preached. Indeed, the
verse from Luke’s preface is a red herring since Luke strives throughout his
preface to use secular language rather than specifically Christian terminology.46
Luke could have written in such a way as to make an overt identification
between Jesus and ‘the message which God sent out’. However, he does not do
this. Nor does he need to, since, as Dunn has shown, there is a good tradition

42. Dunn, Christology, pp. 230–50
43. Barrett, St John, cites Luke 8.11, 2 Timothy 2.9, Revelation 1.9
44. Dunn, Christology, p. 231 gives the following examples: 1 Corinthians 1.23, 15.12; 2
Corinthians 1.19, 4.5; Philippians 1.15; Ephesians 1.9, 3.3f., 6.19; Colossians 1.27, 2.2, 3.16, 4.3.
45. Dunn, Christology, p. 232
46. Alexander, Preface, p. 123 where she understands the term to be a reference to those
in charge of passing on the Christian tradition of which they are first hand witnesses (au)to&ptai).
Since the focus is on the passing on of a tradition and not on Christology, the reference to ‘ministers
of the word’ is not a reference to ‘servants of Jesus’ but rather to any in charge of handing down
a message through a tradition. So, later, p. 201: ‘Unlike the openings of Matthew, Mark and John,
[Luke’s preface] contains no promise of revelation, no mention of Jesus, no overtly religious
language at all: such possibly “Christian” terms as there are (peplhroforhme&nwn, u(phre&tai tou=
lo&gou) would be opaque to the outsider unfamiliar with the argot of the Christian tradition, delib-
erately muffled by the predominantly neutral, secular terminology’.



particular phrase often used in association with God, tme)vwe dsexe bra.281 Is this
phrase a translation of the Hebrew? If so, does the reader need to know this to
understand this text? We need to make a more detailed exploration of the
terms involved.

xarij
&
Xa&rij refers to a kindness shown. Hence, LSJ suggest that the semantic domain
covers the following areas: ‘beauty’, ‘glory’, ‘grace, kindness, goodwill’,
‘partiality, favour’, ‘gratitude for a gift received’, ‘favour’, ‘grant’, ‘delight’ or
‘gratification’. The sense is clear – the offering or reception of favour and the
resulting feeling in the recipient282. BAGD, bearing their accustomed theological
burden, mention the possibility that the word can refer to a number of aspects
of God’s relationship with his creation:

b. on the part of God and Christ: the context will show whether the emphasis is upon
the possession of divine grace as a source of blessings for the believer, or upon a store
of grace that is dispensed, or a state of grace (i.e. standing in God’s favor) that is
brought about, or a deed of grace wrought by God in Christ, or a work of grace which
grows fr. more to more.

In fact, xa&rij is a rare term in John, used only these four times in vv. 14–17.283
Barrett, along with most commentators, links the use of the lexeme to the
Hebrew phrase tme)vwe dsexe bra and suggests that since dsexe is usually translated
in the LXX as e1leoj, it has the meaning ‘grace’, ‘undeserved favour’. However,
Feuillet and Kuyper have shown that dsexe could be translated with xa&rij and
that the Hebrew word’s semantic overlap is in fact closer to xa&rij than to
e1leoj.284 Indeed, Kuyper has shown that e1leoj reflects the meaning of the

281. Kuyper, ‘Grace and Truth: An Old Testament Description of God, and Its Use in the
Johannine Gospel’, Int 18,1 (1964), pp. 3–19, p. 3; Brown, John, p. 14. Note, however,
Bultmann’s comment, John, p. 74 fn.1, where he denies the possibility of linking this phrase with
John 1.14 and Mowvley’s insistence that since dsexe is only translated with xa&rij once (Esther
2.9), then this phrase is not being echoed. Mowvley prefers to see a link with Exodus 33.16 which
includes both a)lhqw~j and xa&rij. However, the words here are not used together and the
arguments for the echo of 34.6 seem much more convincing.
282. Compare Louw-Nida’s selection: 88.66 kindness; 57.103 gift; 33.350 thanks; 25.89
good will. BAGD, pp. 877–78, suggest: ‘attractiveness’, ‘favor’, ‘goodwill’, ‘gift’, ‘thanks’,
‘gratitude’
283. Edwards, ‘Grace and Law’, p. 3; Kuyper, ‘Grace and Truth’, p. 14. Boismard argues
that the term is a sign of the Lukan redaction of the Gospel; Feuillet, Prologue, p. 114. However,
if this were the case, then we would find xa&rij much more frequently in the Gospel.
284. On the translation from Hebrew to Greek, see Brown, John, p. 14 and Kuyper,
‘Grace and Truth’, p. 8 and Dodd, Interpretation, p. 175 ‘tme)vwe dsexe is variously translated,
but most characteristically as e1leoj kai a)lh&qeia. There is, however, evidence to suggest that in
the later stages of the LXX, and in Hellenistic Judaism, xa&rij came to be preferred to e1leoj as
a rendering of dsexe. So, Feuillet, Prologue, p. 115; Bultmann, p. 74 fn.1; Schnackenburg, John,
p. 272, fn.193; Barrett, St John, p. 167, Beasley-Murray, John, p. 14; Carson, John, p. 129

Leviathan vol1 23/9/03 12:33 pm Page 1

TABLE OF CONTENTS

VOLUME ONE: INTRODUCTION
Preface 3
List of Illustrations 6
List of Abbreviations 7

I. The Genesis of Leviathan 9

II. Hobbesian Sources of Leviathan 18

III. The Different Versions of Leviathan 47
III.1. The Egerton Manuscript 48
III.2. The ‘Head’ Edition 71
III.3. Twentieth-Century Reprints of the ‘Head’ Edition 97
III.3.A. The Waller Edition 99
III.3.B. The Pogson Smith Edition 101
III.3.C. The Lindsay Edition 104
III.3.D. The Macpherson Edition 105
III.3.E. The Scolar Press Facsimile 110
III.3.F. The Tuck Edition 111
III.3.G. Excursus: Hobbesian Variants in the ‘Head’ Edition? 123
III.3.H. The Tricaud Translation 129
III.4. The ‘Bear’ Edition 130
III.5. The ‘Ornaments’ Edition 155
III.6. A Re-edition in 1680? 182
III.7. The 1750 Edition 184
III.8. The Molesworth Edition 201
III.9. Twentieth-Century Pseudo-Editions 213
III.9.A. The Oakeshott Edition 213
III.9.B. The Curley Edition 217
III.9.C. The Gaskin Edition 222
III.9.D. The Flathman/Johnston Edition 226

1


2 INTRODUCTION TO LEVIATHAN

IV. The Latin Leviathan 229
IV.1. A Latin Proto-Leviathan? 230
IV.2. The Latin Edition of 1668 241
IV.3. The Later Latin Editions 250

V. The Present Edition 259

VOLUME TWO: LEVIATHAN
List of Abbreviations vii

LEVIATHAN 1

The Contents of the Chapters 5

The ﬁrst Part, Of MAN 9

The second Part, Of COMMON-WEALTH 133

The third Part, Of A CHRISTIAN COMMON-WEALTH 291

The fourth Part, Of THE KINGDOME OF DARKNESSE 481


PREFACE

It will be no secret that the editors of this critical edition of Thomas Hobbes’s
Leviathan work from different agendas: the edition of the works of John Locke
on the one hand, the edition of Hobbes’s Latin works on the other. Neither of
us ever had the intention to focus on Hobbes’s English works as such, let alone
on his Leviathan. Only when we happened to be in need of an edition of this
work that would scrupulously note the major variant readings contained in its
various versions, and could find none, did we reluctantly decide to take this task
upon ourselves. However, only as we went along did we become aware that,
instead of walking on firm ground, we were imprudently sailing ofer hronrade
in an old tub, and about to get lost in the infinities of the Elder Pliny’s mare
Cronium. The late François Tricaud, who had struggled more intensely with
Leviathan than anyone before, definitely knew what he was talking about when
he told us: ‘Le Léviathan, c’est un monstre’. The only way to escape from being
swallowed by draco iste (Ps. 104:26), this serpens tortuosus (Is. 27:1), was to
limit our enterprise. Fortunately it turned out just in time that the widespread
rumour of Hobbesian corrections in the so-called ‘Head’ edition was, in
Descartes’s words, only one of many fabulas de Leviathan, so that chasing
after that mythical, supposedly best corrected copy (if it were still there) would
be as hopeless as had been the quest for that other whale, Moby-Dick. On the
contrary, we would proceed on the firm rule: one copy, one vote. This applied
also to the so-called ‘Bear’ and ‘Ornaments’ editions of Leviathan so reprehen-
sibly neglected in Hobbes research up until now. And we were in the lucky
position of being able to divide the work. While Karl Schuhmann collated all
the text versions used in this edition (the quantitative part of the work), John
Rogers took all the decisions as to which variants should go into the main text
and which ones were to be relegated to the critical apparatus (the qualitative
aspect of the work). While Karl Schuhmann drafted the Introduction, John
Rogers controlled and shaped it in the way it appears here. If our edition does
not fall too far short of its goal, we may put an end to this cetacean undertaking
of ours with Petrarch’s comforting words so dear to Schopenhauer: satis est. We
can only hope that, as in the case of that shanty celebrity, the whaler Reuben
Ranzo, so also with this adventure of ours – all’s well that ends well. But even
though other interludes tend to be shorter than this one has been, we look back
with great satisfaction at a period of very pleasing and fruitful collaboration on
this shared project. For us it was a time of exciting and most unexpected discov-

3


4 INTRODUCTION TO LEVIATHAN

eries about the textual history of that great work of political philosophy which
goes under so sinister a name: Leviathan.
We most gratefully acknowledge the help and support we have received from
many people and institutions, without which it would have been impossible to
bring this enterprise to a happy end. This concerns in particular the British
Library, the Bodleian Library and Cambridge University Library, but also the
British Council and the Leverhulme Trust which gave important ﬁnancial
support for John Rogers’s visits to Utrecht.
We also want to thank the late François Tricaud for discussing in all minute
detail a draft of this edition with Karl Schuhmann only a few months before his
death.
Thanks also go to Paul Schuurman through whose most welcome services it
was easy for us to acquire copies from the Bodleain Library in Oxford; to
Matthijs van Otegem for his suggestions concerning the riddle of the Ornaments
edition; to Cees Leijenhorst who critically read a draft of the Introduction; and
especially to Quentin Skinner for his unwavering friendship and his most
generous support of this undertaking of ours, as well as for his critical reading
of a draft of the Introduction

G.A.J. Rogers, Keele University,
Karl Schuhmann, University of Utrecht
January 2003

vol 1 A-J.qxd 12/9/03 11:05 am Page 194

BURMAN

time for study. He studied at the universities of history and Latin eloquence in Franeker and
Leiden (matriculated on 24 September 1685) Amsterdam, was his nephew.
and Utrecht (1687). He was appointed
professor extraordinarius of history at Utrecht BIBLIOGRAPHY
University in 1696 and full professor in 1698; Disputatio juridica inauguralis de
from 1703 he also taught politics. In 1715 he transactionibus (Utrecht, 1688).
was appointed Professor of History at LEIDEN; Oratio de eloquentia et poëtice (Utrecht,
in 1724 he became librarian too. In 1691 he 1696).
married Eva Clotterbooke, daughter of the Oratio pro pigritia (n.p., 1702; 2nd edn,
mayor of Den Briel. Burman died in Leiden on Leiden, 1740).
31 March 1741. Orato pro comoedia, publice in auspiciis
During his years in Utrecht, he published new academicarum recitationum, quibus
editions of classical authors like Petronius and Terentii fabulae explicantur (Utrecht,
Horace; and he promoted the comedies of 1711); Dutch trans. by Redenvoering voor
Terence. The ministry in the city, mostly very de comedie, in ’t openbaer opgezegt by
orthodox and suspicious of such frivolous den aanvang zijner academische leszen,
authors and profane amusement, brought over den toneeldichter Terentius (Utrecht,
charges against Burman with the magistrates. 1711).
He reacted touchily and became the centre of Oratio de publici humanioris disciplinae
many assaults. Because of his libertine views professoris proprio officio et munere
Burman was also accused of Spinozism, but (Leiden, 1715).
actually he had hardly any interest in philoso- Oratio in humanitatis studia (Leiden, 1720).
phy. When he left for Leiden these quarrels Oratio de bibliothecis publicis, earumque
ended, though Burman, self-assertive as he was, praefectis (Leiden, 1725).
met some minor conflicts there as well. Pro literatis et grammaticis oratio (Leiden,
Burman was well-known for his many text 1735).
editions of Latin authors from classical Poëmatum libri quatuor, nunc primum in
antiquity, e.g. Phaedrus (1698), Horace (1699), lucem editi, ed. Petrus Burmannus Jr.
Petronius (1709), Quintilian (1720), Justin (Amsterdam, 1746).
(1722), Valerius Flaccus (1724), Suetonius
(1736), Lucan (1740) and Virgil (posthumously Further Reading
published by Petrus Burmannus II, 1746). He Kernkamp, G.W., Acta et decreta senatus,
was an old-fashioned humanist, and he pleaded vroedschapsresolutiën en andere
for a contemporary but correct use of Latin. bescheiden betreffende de Utrechtsche
Accordingly he delivered eloquent orations and academie, vol. 2 (Utrecht, 1938).
wrote Neo-Latin poems for many solemnities. ———, De Utrechtsche universiteit
In his linguistic method he was opposed to the 1636–1936. Eerste deel, de Utrechtsche
more historical and empirical use of linguistics academie 1636–1815 (Utrecht, 1936).
by Tiberius HEMSTERHUIS and his pupils, the Lunsingh Scheurleer, T.H. and G.H.M.
so-called schola Hemsterhusiana. In 1716 Posthumus Meyjes (eds), Leiden
Burman successfully averted the appointment of University in the Seventeenth Century: An
Hemsterhuis at Leiden University, and it was exchange of learning (Leiden, 1975).
only after the retirement of Burman in 1740 Meijer, Theodorus Josephus, Kritiek als
that Hemsterhuis could be appointed in Leiden. herwaardering: Het levenswerk van Jacob
Frans BURMAN II (1671–1719), professor of Perizonius (1651–1715) (Leiden, 1971).
theology in Utrecht, was his brother; Petrus Molhuysen, P.C., Bronnen tot de
Secundus or Junior (1713–78), professor for geschiedenis der Leidsche universiteit, vols

194

vol 1 A-J.qxd 12/9/03 11:05 am Page 196

C
CAMPER, Petrus (1722–89) cal dissertation, De visu, based on literature;
and for a medical dissertation, De quibusdam
Petrus Camper was born in Leiden on 11 May oculi partibus, including original anatomical
1722. He was Professor of Medicine at research.
FRANEKER in 1750–55, AMSTERDAM 1755–61 Camper became a physician in Leiden, but
and GRONINGEN in 1763–73; he lived by his after the death of his parents in 1748 he made
own means after 1773 in the countryside near a trip to England – London, Cambridge and
Franeker, sometimes becoming involved in Oxford; and in June 1749 he left for Paris,
public affairs. He became well known in where he attended the lessons of the famous
Europe as an anatomist and a physician. He surgeon Louis and met Buffon. Just before he
had practical skill in many fields of research, left Paris to return to his native town, he was
but he was not a theorist. Although he appointed at Franeker University to the chairs
published a great deal, he did not write of philosophy and of anatomy and surgery.
important textbooks or systematic studies. He Camper arrived in Franeker in April 1750 and
died on 7 April 1789 in The Hague. delivered an inaugural address Oratio de
His parents, Florentius Camper and Sara mundo optimo in April 1751. In it he discusses
Geertruida Ketting, were rather wealthy. His the Leibnizian theme of living in the best
father had been a Reformed minister in Batavia possible world created by an omnipotent and
and in 1713 returned to Leiden, where he lived benevolent God; but from a Newtonian point
as a gentleman of independent means. The of view, Camper contended, it is metaphysical
famous physician Herman BOERHAAVE was a and theological recklessness to argue about the
friend of the family. Young Camper went to perfection of this world. However, because of
grammar school in 1731. Outside school hours, his empiricism Camper had a profound confi-
he mastered the arts of designing and painting dence in the order of the world as God has
from Carel de Moor and his son, Carel Isaac. created it, and in the possibility of genuine
He matriculated at Leiden University in 1734. knowledge about it. He points to the fact of the
His physics professors, W.J. ’s GRAVESANDE and enormous variety, both in living and non-living
P. van M USSCHENBROEK , were among the nature, which demonstrates the ordering power
leading continental proponents of Newtonian of the Supreme Being. The coherence given by
empiricism. Camper learned medicine from H. God in this variety – a theme which returned
OOSTERDIJK SCHACHT, H.D. GAUBIUS and A. many times in Camper’s orations – is a solid
van Rooculiyen; and with the anatomist B.S. ground to base analogy upon. In his Franeker
Albinus he shared a passion for anatomy. lectures, Prolegomena in philosophiam,
Camper concluded his university studies in Camper offers an empirical epistemology based
1746 with a double degree: for a philosophi- on three pillars: the senses, the testimony (i.e.

196

vol 1 A-J.qxd 12/9/03 11:05 am Page 197

CAMPER

the experience) of others, and analogy. Bourboom (1722–76). She had inherited from
Provided that these three are used carefully her first husband an estate near Franeker,
and in mutual balance, genuine certainty is called Klein Lankum: here Camper settled and
possible. This moral certainty, as Camper calls could live independently. He considered him-
it, should be distinguished from the evident self to be an aristocrat and in this capacity he
certainty of, for example, mathematics. This accepted public offices, such as dike-reeve,
inductive empiricism, with admiration for the mayor of the town of Workum, and president
Newtonian philosophy, is distinguished of the Council of State. During the patriot-
sharply from the deductive metaphysics of riots at the end of his life he showed himself to
DESCARTES and the Cartesians. be a natural conservative.
Frans HEMSTERHUIS and Camper had been During his lifetime Camper became famous
friends since their youth. It was probably by for his skills as an anatomist. He was a keen
the influence of Frans’s father, Tiberius observer, both as a medical practitioner and as
HEMSTERHUIS, professor of Greek in Leiden, a zoologist. Cadavers and skeletons of exotic
that Camper was strengthened in his convic- animals, like an elephant, a rhinoceros, and
tion that analogy was a universal and reliable anthropoid apes such as the orang-utan were
method for all sciences, though he never had sent to him; and Camper wrote treatises about
any ambition for philological research himself. the dissections of these animals, illustrated by
Only as a professor in Franeker did Camper drawings of his own. Camper held the combi-
have to teach philosophy: later on, in nation of the skills of anatomy and drawing in
Amsterdam and Groningen, he only held chairs high esteem. Combining practice and theory, he
of medicine. However, he always proclaimed a was very successful in comparative anatomy,
Newtonian empiricism, based on the senses, again by applying the method of observation
testimony and analogy. He marvelled at the and analogy. The investigation of new, hitherto
variety of Creation and saw God as the Supreme unknown animals could be applied to internal
Craftsman. But his orthodoxy was restricted: medicine for people; and insight into the body’s
God is the necessary warrant of the universal functions could be obtained with the help of
order, and the proclaimed religion is the warrant mechanical principles. Camper also applied
of the order in society. When his Groningen comparative anatomy to anthropology.
colleague F.A. van der MARCK, professor of According to Camper the varieties of the
law, was dismissed on account of having far too human species could be distinguished by a
liberal opinions, Camper supported this precisely measurable characteristic, the so-
discharge, because Van der Marck had offended called facial angle. The pluriformity rested in
the oath he had made on the occasion of his the extension of the jaw and had nothing to do
appointment as a professor. Camper’s own the- with superiority or inferiority. All races have
ological views bear testimony to deism; but he their relative beauty and are all descendants of
was prudent and he never wrote about theo- Adam and Eve. He combated the myths of his
logical subjects. days concerning the supposed close relationship
As a medical practitioner Camper was of apes to the black race (Redevoering over de
consulted by many, and when necessary he oorsprong en de kleur der zwarten, 1764,
helped the poor free of charge. He experi- published 1772; translation in Meijer, 1999).
mented with obstetric instruments, which he Through comparative anatomy he also
designed himself. He preferred practical skill disproved then current theories regarding the
above theory, and probably for that reason he abilities of apes to speak and to walk upright.
withdrew voluntarily from his academic Camper’s belief in the Supreme Creator
profession. He was wealthy himself, and in restrained him from developing any idea of
1756 he had married a rich widow, Johanna evolutionary thought.

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