CONDILLAC, Étienne Bonnot de.

Traité des sensations (Treatise on Sensation0.

London & Paris: Chez de Bure l'ainé, 1754. FIRST EDITION In one volume: 1 blank leaf + half title +TP + [iii]-vi + [1]-345 + half title + TP + [1]-335 + [336] = Errata, 12 mo. Condillac's great classic of psychology and his most important work. It had a double purpose: to show how modifications of mind, or impressions received by way of the senses, could give rise automatically, without reference to unobservable spirits or innate ideas, to all our mental operations, and at the same time to defend the existence of an external, material world. The first purpose was familiar, the second required a new approach, the rejection of the assumption that sensations or impressions are images occasioned by external material things. (Encyclopedia of Philosophy). Étienne Bonnot de Condillac was a philosopher of the Enlightenment, psychologist, economist, and educator; through his work he helped to bring about the dominance of the ideas of Locke and Newton over the philosophy of Descartes. Condillac's writings fall into three categories: the philosophical, the educational, and the economic. His systematization, exposition and development of Newton's empiricism, constitute four books, the most important of which, Traité des sensations, "no student of the history of philosophy can afford to neglect''. (IESS, vol 3, pp. 211-3). Contemporary mottled calf with spines gilt in compartments with floral design. Several letters chipped off title on spine. Front hinge splitting but firm. First half title creased. Text a bit browned. Overall, a very nice copy. PHOTOS AVAILABLE UPON REQUEST.

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• bookseller: Athena Rare Books (USA)