Locke, Hume, and the Treacherous Logos of Atomism

Robert J. Roecklein is senior lecturer in rhetoric and political philosophy at Penn State Erie, the Behrend College. He is the author of three other books concerning Plato, Machiavelli, the foundations of atomist philosophy, and early modern political philosophy.

• Part 1Introduction. The Ideology of Atomism Past and Present.Chapter 1. The Philosophies of Perception and Epistemology TodayPart 2Chapter 2. John Locke’s Philosophy of MindChapter 3. Locke on Consent, Morals and EducationChapter 4. Hume On the Limits of ThoughtChapter 5. Hume’s Moral Philosophy

In this ambitious, far-reaching book, Robert Roecklein argues that the philosophical notion of 'atomism' has had, and continues to have, a rather crippling effect on philosophy and politics.... I sympathize with Roecklein's claim that in principle, atomistic philosophy compromises our perception of what we take to be 'ordinary' objects (e.g. cats, cars, etc.). For if these things are not truly representative of what exists, then the ordinary perceiver does not, in fact, have access to reality. I also agree with his controversial claim that Hume thought that we must (unwittingly) imagine objects.