A Beginner's History of Philosophy, Vol. 2: Modern Philosophy — Reading Notes

Pedagogical Framing and National Contrasts

Cushman repeatedly uses national schools as organizing units—the Enlightenment, the Scottish School, the German reply to Hume. He draws sharp contrasts: the Enlightenment 'took no account of the past,' whereas Hume 'alone among philosophers shows the historical sense.' The Scottish School is presented as a British reaction to Hume, just as Kant's philosophy was the German one, but Cushman immediately downgrades the Scots: 'The Scottish School has no such importance.' This evaluative hierarchy is part of the textbook's design, guiding the beginner toward what the author considers the main line of development. The preface's stated aim—to make the teacher 'all the more necessary'—is visible in the way Cushman provides condensed judgments that invite classroom elaboration.

Hume as the Exceptional Empiricist

Cushman devotes unusual attention to Hume's departure from Enlightenment norms. He writes that Hume 'alone among philosophers shows the historical sense in the application of his positivism to religion and morals.' The text emphasizes that Hume built ethics on feelings rather than intellect, making reason 'the slave of the passions.' Cushman also notes Hume's critique of deism: religion originated not in reason but in feelings, and the oldest form was idolatry, not natural religion. These observations are tied to specific claims in the excerpts—for instance, that Hume's 'historic sense led him to this conclusion' about moral motives being pleasure and pain. The portrait is of a philosopher who consistently applies empirical method to domains others exempted.

The Scottish School's Alternative Foundation

Thomas Reid's response to Hume is summarized as a rejection of Locke's assumption that the objects of thought are ideas. Instead, Reid held that 'our knowledge starts rather from judgments, which involve certain original truths or natural judgments.' Cushman explains that the Scottish School posited a faculty of 'common sense' that makes these truths a common possession, including self-consciousness, the reality of perceived objects, and the principle of cause. The excerpts show Cushman treating this school as a conservative reaction—'the British reply to Hume'—but one that did not launch a new period. The contrast with Kant's epoch-making status is implicit: the Scottish School corrected Locke but did not advance beyond empiricism.

Kant as the Turning Point

The excerpts position Kant as the culmination of the volume's narrative. Cushman calls his teaching 'the beginning of a new movement and a new period,' in contrast to the Scottish School which 'has no such importance.' The portrait of Kant is introduced with a detailed note about the Puttrich portrait used as a model for Rauch's statue, indicating Cushman's attention to visual and cultural context. While the excerpts do not develop Kant's arguments fully, they establish him as the figure who resolves the tensions between empiricism and rationalism. The textbook's structure—moving from the Enlightenment through Hume and the Scottish School to Kant—reinforces this teleological arc, with Kant presented as the necessary synthesis.

Readers should note that Cushman's judgments are not neutral: he explicitly ranks philosophers by historical significance and dismisses entire schools. The book's value lies in its clear, opinionated framework, which can serve as a starting point for discussion. Because the excerpts are incomplete, the treatment of figures after Kant—such as Hegel or Schopenhauer—is not visible here. The pedagogical apparatus, including maps and references to political history, is designed to make philosophy accessible to beginners, but the author's interpretive choices should be weighed against primary sources.

In Cushman’s volume, Kant sits alone, building his great cathedral of duty from the rubble of Hume’s doubts. I’ve always felt that solitary scaffolding echoed in the essays where older moral certainties gave way to quieter, more personal reckonings. Both books, in their own time, watch a world rearrange itself around a thinking self. There is a fondness in that shared uncertainty, a kinship across the shelf. Our Changing Morality: A Symposium — A Closer Reading holds that same patient breath.