First Published in 1999. The purpose of this series is to provide a contemporary assessment and history of the entire course of philosophical thought. Each book constitutes a detailed, critical introduction to the work of a philosopher of major influence and significance. The series in which this work appears, the Arguments of the Philosophers, should, ideally, identify the arguments of a particular philosopher and then subject them to relentless, modern, critical examination. The work which follows diverges from this ideal type in having rather more attention given to the identification than to the criticism of its subject?s arguments.