The Myth of 'British Empiricism'

In: History of European ideas, Band 1, Heft 4, S. 331-344

Abstract

With Thomas Hill Green's 1886 edition of David Hume's philosophical works, the origins of philosophical empiricism were firmly established in the theory of British intellectuals John Locke, David Hume, & Bishop Berkeley. Green argued that Hume borrowed Locke's tabula rasa theory & Berkeley's sense doctrine to form his own empirical premises & to oppose the rationalist tradition. However, research indicates Berkeley's & Hume's debt to the Frenchman Nicholas Malebranche & to the Rationalist tradition, & also shows how the views of Locke, Berkeley, & Hume are importantly different. Finally Hume himself specifically criticized empirical doctrines. The traditional labels of "British Empiricism" & Continental Rationalism are inaccurate designations, & should be dropped. D. Dunseath.