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 THE
PHILOSOPHICAL
JOURNEY
An Interactive Approach

Seventh Edition

William F. Lawhead
University of Mississippi
THE PHILOSOPHICAL JOURNEY: AN INTERACTIVE APPROACH, SEVENTH EDITION

Published by McGraw-Hill Education, 2 Penn Plaza, New York, NY 10121. Copyright © 2019 by
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Preface

Socrates once complained in the Protagoras that eloquent orators and books are alike in
that they provide massive amounts of information, “but if one asks any of them an addi-
tional question . . . they cannot either answer or ask a question on their own account.” As
I wrote this book, my challenge was to see to what degree I could provide a counterex-
ample to Socrates’ claim. Of course, Socrates is correct: There is no substitute for live
philosophical conversations and debates. However, as you get acquainted with this book,
you will find that it does ask you questions and provokes you to ask questions in turn.
Instead of simply presenting information for you to passively absorb, its many exercises
require your active involvement, and some will even provide the opportunity for you to
dialogue with your friends about the philosophical issues discussed. For this reason, I
chose the title The Philosophical Journey: An Interactive Approach.
Rather than being like a slide show of landscapes you have never visited, this book is
a guided, exploratory journey in which you will have to scout the terrain yourself. I hope
that the journey will be fun, but there is also much to be done en route. This philosophy
text is as interactive as is possible within the medium of paper and ink. Students taking
courses in philosophy are often asked, “What can you do with philosophy?” After taking
this philosophical journey I have planned for you, I hope that you will realize that the
really important question is, “What can philosophy do with you?” You will certainly not
agree with everything you will read in these pages, but do anticipate the fact that engag-
ing with these ideas will not leave you unchanged.

ORGANIZATION
This book presents philosophy by introducing the major philosophical topics, questions,
positions, and philosophers. The different chapters are independent enough that they
could be read in a different order if one so desired. However, you should start with the
overview (section 1.0) in chapter 1, which will prepare you for the journey. The remain-
ing five chapters then lead into each of the major areas of philosophy. The first section
of each chapter, as well as each subtopic, has the following features:
• Scouting the Territory—a scenario that raises engaging, philosophical questions.
• Charting the Terrain—a more precise presentation of the topic and its
significance.
• Choosing a Path—a presentation of the opposing alternatives to help you clarify
your own thinking on the issue.
• Conceptual Tools—an occasional feature that introduces important distinctions,
definitions, or terminology as helpful tools for understanding the topic.
• What Do I Think?—a questionnaire that will help you identify your current stand
on the issue. An answer key will show you how philosophers label your own posi-
tion and which answers are incompatible.

iii
 The opening section of each topic will be followed by sections that present and ana-
lyze the different alternatives that can be taken on the issue. Each of these sections has
the following format:
• Leading Questions—a series of questions asked from the standpoint of the position
in question that will get you thinking about the philosophy and its merits.
• Surveying the Case for . . . —a presentation of the position under consideration and
the arguments supporting it.
• A Reading from . . . —several brief readings that will provide you with practice in
analyzing philosophical passages and arguments. As always, you will be provided
with guidelines for getting the most out of the passage.
• Looking through X’s Lens—an exercise in which you will be asked to draw out the
implications of the philosopher’s position and apply the theory to novel situations.
• Examining the Strengths and Weaknesses of X—a series of considerations and ques-
tions that will guide you in forming your own response to the position.
Finally, there is a new feature that has been added to this edition. Each chapter will end
with the exercise Making Philosophy Personal. This will consist of a series of very per-
sonal questions that require you to think deeply about how the issues in the chapter
relate to your personal life.
Throughout the book will be a number of exercises that require you to interact philo-
sophically with the issues. These include:
• Philosophy in the Marketplace—a question, survey, or scenario that will allow you to
apply the Socratic method of doing philosophy through structured conversations
with friends outside of class.
• Thought Experiments—exercises that will give you the opportunity to make your
own philosophical discoveries and to compare your conclusions with those of the
great philosophers as well as those of your classmates.
• Stop and Think boxes—a brief pause in your reading to form some tentative conclu-
sions about an issue.
• Spotlight on . . . —additional information that helps illuminate the topic.
(For a more detailed explanation of these unique features of The Philosophical ­Journey,
turn to pages 11–15.)
Both students and teachers will find that these features provide a great deal to think
about and talk about. In my attempts to make philosophy an activity and not just a
course, I began developing this approach to introducing philosophy more than 25 years
ago. The activities I have experimented with that have made it into the book have been
the ones that my students most enjoyed and that have made my task as a teacher easier. I
hope that both the students and teachers using this book will find this to be true for them
as well.

TEACHING AND LEARNING PACKAGE

The seventh edition of The Philosophical Journey: An Interactive Approach is now available
online with Connect, McGraw-Hill Education’s integrated assignment and assessment
platform. Connect also offers SmartBook for the new edition, which is the first adaptive
reading experience proven to improve grades and help students study more effectively.
All of the title’s website and ancillary content is also available through Connect, includ-
ing the following:

iv Preface
Instructor Resources:
• Instructor’s Manual: Written by myself, this manual begins with an overall intro-
duction to The Philosophical Journey and a general discussion of how to use the
sundry pedagogical features to advantage in the classroom. This discussion is fol-
lowed by a chapter-by-chapter, section-bisection series of lecture and discussion
tips, including how to use some of the specific “Thought Experiments” and other
interactive activities in the text. Finally, the manual contains a series of objective
and essay test questions tailored to each chapter and section. Carefully crafted as
a true teaching tool, the various elements of this instructor’s manual provide an
excellent resource for both first-time and experienced philosophy teachers.
• Testbank: Significantly revised and expanded, the Test Bank offers true/false, mul-
tiple choice, and essay questions for each chapter. The Test Bank can be down-
loaded as a Word file from Connect or used in EZ Test Online, which allows you
to create and deliver an online test.
• Power Point Lecture Slides

Student Resources:
• Flash Cards to assist students master the key terms.
• A Contemporary Connections section attempts to relate philosophical concepts
from each chapter to modern dilemmas and current events.
• A Primary Source Explorations section invites students to investigate philosophical
questions on their own on the Web.
• Multiple Choice, True/False, and Fill-in-the-Blank Quizzes help students assess their
comprehension of chapter material.

Digital Solutions:
• CourseSmart eBook: This book is available as a CourseSmart eBook. CourseSmart
is a fast and easy way to access eTextbooks online. For further details contact your
sales representative or go to www.coursesmart.com.

Preface v
 McGraw-Hill Connect® is a highly reliable, easy-to-
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▪ Connect will create a personalized study path
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Over 7 billion questions have been

answered, making McGraw-Hill Using Connect improves retention
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Education products more intelligent, 12.7%, and exam scores by 9.1%.
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who use Connect
Quality Content and Learning Resources require it; instructor
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by 28% when Connect
▪ Connect content is authored by the world’s best subject is required.
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simple and intuitive interface.
▪ The Connect eBook makes it easy for students to
access their reading material on smartphones
and tablets. They can study on the go and don’t
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▪ Multimedia content such as videos, simulations,
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www.mheducation.com/connect
 ABOUT THE SEVENTH EDITION
The fact that The Philosophical Journey is now in its seventh edition is very rewarding.
From the responses I have received, it is clear that professors are finding that this text-
book takes students who are passive learners and transforms them into active learners
who are engaged with the ideas, thus enriching what they bring to the classroom. Like-
wise, students report that the thought experiments and activities provided in this book
make philosophy intriguing, relevant, and fun. Finally, I am delighted that a number of
readers have picked up the book on their own and have found it to be an enjoyable source
of personal enrichment.
The newest and most unique addition to this edition is the feature Making Philosophy
Personal, which occurs at the end of each of the seven chapters. While this book provides
interesting intellectual ideas to think about, this particular feature will give the readers
something practical to carry away from the book. It will ask thought-provoking and per-
sonal questions and provide conceptual exercises that will help the readers apply some of
the ideas and issues in the chapter to their personal lives. Additionally, throughout the
book, a number of passages have been rewritten for the sake of greater clarity.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
From the first rough outline to the final chapter revisions I have had the help of numer-
ous reviewers who read this text with an eye to its suitability for the classroom as well as
its philosophical clarity and accuracy. I appreciate the comments of the following
­reviewers on the first six editions: Judy Barad, Indiana State University; Chris Blakey,
College of the Canyons; David Carlson, Madison Area Technical College; Anne
DeWindt, Wayne County Community College; Reinaldo Elugardo, University of
Oklahoma; Louise Excell, Dixie State College; Kevin Galvin, East Los Angeles College;
Eric Gampel, California State University at Chico; Garth Gillan, Southern Illinois
University; Robert A. Hill, Pikes Peak Community College; Achim Kodderman, State
University of New York College; Pat Matthews, Florida State University; Brian L.
Merrill, Brigham Young University–Idaho; Mark A. Michael, Austin Peay State
University; Benjamin A. Petty, Southern Methodist University; Michael Punches,
Oklahoma City Community College; John F. Sallstrem, Georgia College; Nancy Shaffer,
University of Nebraska–Omaha; Kathleen Wider, University of Michigan, Dearborn;
Gene Witmer, University of Florida; Jay Wood, Wheaton College; Michael J. Booker,
Jefferson College; Michael Boring, University of Colorado, Denver; Michael J. Cundall,
Jr., Arkansas State University; ­Hye-Kyung Kim, University of Wisconsin, Green Bay;
Joseph Michael Pergola, ­Lewis-Clark State College; Robert Reuter, Saint Joseph’s
College; Alan Schwerin, Monmouth University; Tully Borland, Ouachita Baptist
University; Catherine Mary Driscoll, North Carolina State University; David Bishop,
Pima Community College; Marcia Andrejevich, Ivy Tech Community College; Miriam
Newton Byrd, University of Texas, Arlington; Christina Mary Tomczak, Cedar Valley
College; Peter Celello, Ohio State University at Newark; Rocco Gangle, Endicott
College; Carlos Bovell, Gloucester County College; Marcos Arandia, North Lake
College; Jerry Cherrington, Pima Community College; Heather Coletti, Cabrini College.
I am particularly grateful to both my current and former colleagues for sharing
their expertise with me throughout all the editions of this book. The reviewers of this
seventh edition were: Ronald Glass, University of Wisconsin-LaCrosse; James E.
Taylor, Westmont College; James A. Dunson III, Xavier University of Louisiana;
Diane Gaston, Cuyahoga Community College; Angela Cotner, Oklahoma City
Community College; Doug Fishel, Maple Woods Community College; Craig Payne,

viii Preface
Indian Hills College; Douglas Anderson, Front Range Community College; Aaron
Bartolome, College of DuPage; Binita Mehta, Texas State University; Robert
F. O’Connor, Texas State University; Quan Jin, Saint Louis University; Scott Berman,
Saint Louis University; Holly Lewis, Texas State University; Joshua Stuchlik,
University of St. Thomas. Michael Lynch answered numerous questions on epistemol-
ogy, Robert Westmoreland on ethics and political philosophy, and Neil Manson on
contemporary design arguments. I have also had helpful conversations on philosophy
of mind with Robert Barnard, on Greek philosophy with Steven Skultety, and on reli-
gion with Laurie Cozad and Mary Thurkill. My former student, Richard Howe, sug-
gested helpful improvements to chapter 4. My thanks to Ken Sufka for his course on
brain science and many hours of stimulating conversations and debates. Furthermore,
I want to thank all my Mississippi Governor’s School students who interacted with
me during the summers of 1987 to 2005 and who were the first to test many of the
exercises in this book. Finally, I have to express my gratitude to all the students in my
Sally McDonnell Barksdale Honors College freshman course during the years 2013–
2017. Besides being an amazing group of students, they were very helpful in allowing
me to try out new ideas and exercises.
I have been fortunate to work with one of the best editorial teams in the business.
Ken King, my first editor, immediately grasped my vision for this book and energetically
made it a reality. Jon-David Hague worked on the second and third editions, and helped
make it the book that it is today. For this current edition, Erika Lo, my Product Devel-
oper, helped oversee all the phases of this edition. I particularly appreciated the assis-
tance of my Development Editors, Dionne Soares Palmer and Amy Oline of Lumina
Datamatics, who handled so many of the details.
Whether you are a student or a teacher, I hope that you will enjoy interacting with my
book as much as I enjoyed writing it. I would be glad to hear about your experiences with
the book and its exercises as well as any suggestions you have for future improvements.
You may e-mail me at wlawhead@olemiss.edu.
William F. Lawhead

Preface ix
This page intentionally left blank
Contents

Preface iii

CHAPTER 1

Introduction to the Philosophical Journey 3

1.0 OVERVIEW OF THE JOURNEY 4
1.1 SOCRATES AND THE SEARCH FOR WISDOM 15
FROM PLATO, Apology 18
FROM PLATO, Republic 24

1.2 PLATO’S ALLEGORY OF THE CAVE 30

FROM PLATO, Republic 32

1.3 ARGUMENT AND EVIDENCE: HOW DO I DECIDE WHAT

TO BELIEVE? 37
1.4 MAKING PHILOSOPHY PERSONAL: Introduction to the
Philosophical Journey 46

CHAPTER 2

The Search for Ultimate Reality 53

2.0 OVERVIEW OF METAPHYSICS 54
2.1 OVERVIEW: THE MIND-BODY PROBLEM 64
FROM HUGH ELLIOT, Tantalus 64

2.2 DUALISM 71
FROM RENÉ DESCARTES, Discourse on the Method 73
FROM RENÉ DESCARTES, Meditations on First Philosophy 74
FROM DAVID CHALMERS, The Puzzle of Conscious Experience 78

2.3 PHYSICALISM 83
FROM JEFFREY OLEN, Persons and Their World 92

2.4 FUNCTIONALISM AND ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE 98

FROM JERRY FODOR, The Mind-Body Problem 102
FROM MARVIN MINSKY, Why People Think Computers Can’t 108

2.5 OVERVIEW: FREEDOM AND DETERMINISM 116

2.6 HARD DETERMINISM 127
FROM B. F. SKINNER, Walden Two 128
FROM SAMUEL BUTLER, Erewhon 135
FROM CLARENCE DARROW, The Leopold and Loeb Trial 137

2.7 LIBERTARIANISM 142

FROM JEAN-PAUL SARTRE, Being and Nothingness 152

xi
 2.8 COMPATIBILISM 155
2.9 MAKING PHILOSOPHY PERSONAL: Metaphysics 161

CHAPTER 3

The Search for Knowledge 171

3.0 OVERVIEW OF THE PROBLEM OF KNOWLEDGE 172
3.1 SKEPTICISM 180
FROM RENÉ DESCARTES, Meditations on First Philosophy 187
FROM RENÉ DESCARTES, Meditations on First Philosophy 191

3.2 RATIONALISM 193

FROM PLATO, Phaedo 200
FROM RENÉ DESCARTES, Meditations on First Philosophy 205
3.3 EMPIRICISM 209
FROM GEORGE BERKELEY, A Treatise Concerning the Principles
of Human Knowledge 221
FROM DAVID HUME, An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding 227
FROM DAVID HUME, An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding 228
FROM DAVID HUME, An Enquiry Concerning Human
Understanding 230

3.4 KANTIAN CONSTRUCTIVISM 238

FROM IMMANUEL KANT, Critique of Pure Reason 241
FROM IMMANUEL KANT, Critique of Pure Reason 247

3.5 EPISTEMOLOGICAL RELATIVISM 253

FROM FRIEDRICH NIETZSCHE, Beyond Good and Evil 263

3.6 RETHINKING THE WESTERN TRADITION:

PRAGMATISM 270
FROM WILLIAM JAMES, Pragmatism’s Conception of Truth 279

3.7 RETHINKING THE WESTERN TRADITION: FEMINIST

EPISTEMOLOGY 283
3.8 APPLYING EPISTEMOLOGY: WHAT IS THE NATURE OF
SCIENTIFIC KNOWLEDGE? 295
3.9 MAKING PHILOSOPHY PERSONAL: THE PROBLEM
OF KNOWLEDGE 304

CHAPTER 4

The Search for God 315

4.0 OVERVIEW OF PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION 316
FROM PETER KREEFT, Does God Exist? 316

4.1 THE COSMOLOGICAL ARGUMENT FOR GOD 322

FROM THOMAS AQUINAS, Summa Theologica 323
FROM RICHARD TAYLOR, Metaphysics 326

xii Contents
4.2 THE DESIGN ARGUMENT FOR GOD 330
FROM WILLIAM PALEY, Natural Theology 332
FROM DAVID HUME, Dialogues Concerning Natural
Religion 334

4.3 THE ONTOLOGICAL ARGUMENT FOR GOD 339

FROM ST. ANSELM, Proslogium 341

4.4 PRAGMATIC AND SUBJECTIVE JUSTIFICATIONS OF

RELIGIOUS BELIEF 344
FROM BLAISE PASCAL, Thoughts 346
FROM WILLIAM JAMES, The Will to Believe 350
FROM SØREN KIERKEGAARD, Selections 353

4.5 THE PROBLEM OF EVIL: ATHEISTIC AND THEISTIC

RESPONSES 358
FROM ALBERT CAMUS, The Plague 359
FROM JOHN HICK, Evil and the God of Love 366

4.6 RETHINKING THE WESTERN TRADITION: ASIAN

RELIGIONS 373
FROM THE UPANISHADS 376
FROM THE BUDDHA, Selected Teachings 384
FROM HERMAN HESSE, Siddhartha 391

4.7 APPLYING PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION: HOW DOES

RELIGION RELATE TO SCIENCE? 394
4.8 MAKING PHILOSOPHY PERSONAL:
PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION 400

CHAPTER 5

The Search for Ethical Values 409

5.0 OVERVIEW OF ETHICS 410
FROM PLATO, Republic 410

5.1 ETHICAL RELATIVISM VERSUS OBJECTIVISM 425

FROM HERODOTUS, The Histories 429
FROM JAMES R ACHELS, The Challenge of Cultural
Relativism 438

5.2 ETHICAL EGOISM 446

FROM W. SOMERSET MAUGHAM, Of Human Bondage 446
FROM AYN R AND, The Virtue of Selfishness 457

5.3 UTILITARIANISM 462

FROM JEREMY BENTHAM, An Introduction to the Principles of Morals
and Legislation 466
FROM JOHN STUART MILL, Utilitarianism 470
FROM ALASTAIR NORCROSS, Comparing Harms: Headaches and Human Lives 474

5.4 KANTIAN ETHICS 480

FROM IMMANUEL KANT, Foundations of the Metaphysics of Morals 483

Contents xiii
 5.5 VIRTUE ETHICS 498
FROM ARISTOTLE, Nicomachean Ethics 507
FROM CONFUCIUS, The Analects 512

5.6 RETHINKING THE WESTERN TRADITION: FEMINIST

ETHICS 517
5.7 ETHICAL THEORIES AND PRACTICAL MORAL PROBLEMS 532
5.8 MAKING PHILOSOPHY PERSONAL: ETHICS 538

CHAPTER 6

The Search for the Just Society 549

6.0 OVERVIEW OF POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY 550
6.1 THE JUSTIFICATION OF GOVERNMENT 555
FROM ROBERT PAUL WOLFF, In Defense of Anarchism 558
FROM JOHN LOCKE, An Essay Concerning the True Original, Extent and
End of Civil Government 564
FROM THE DECLAR ATION OF INDEPENDENCE (JULY 4, 1776) 567

6.2 THE QUESTION OF JUSTICE 569

FROM PLATO, Republic 571
FROM THOMAS AQUINAS, Summa Theologica 576
FROM JOHN STUART MILL, Utilitarianism 578
FROM JOHN R AWLS, A Theory of Justice 584

6.3 THE INDIVIDUAL AND THE STATE 588

FROM JOHN STUART MILL, On Liberty 590
FROM KARL MARX AND FRIEDRICH ENGELS, Communist Manifesto 604

6.4 CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE 611

FROM PLATO, Crito 614
FROM MOHANDAS GANDHI, Young India 621

6.5 MAKING PHILOSOPHY PERSONAL: POLITICAL

PHILOSOPHY 627

CHAPTER 7

Philosophy and the Meaning of Life 635

FROM LEO TOLSTOY, My Confession 643
FROM HAZEL E. BARNES, An Existentialist Ethics 648

7.0 MAKING PHILOSOPHY PERSONAL: THE MEANING OF LIFE 659

APPENDIX

Reasoning Effectively: What to Do and What Not to Do A-1

Index I-1

xiv Contents
To my daughters-in-law,
Julie Lawhead and Christin Lawhead
Our lives are richer because
you joined our family.
Courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington

Winslow Homer, Breezing Up (A Fair Wind), 1873–1876

Philosophy is a journey which, like the sailing of a ship, requires constant engagement to stay on our chosen course.
 CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION TO
THE PHILOSOPHICAL
JOURNEY
Where Are We Going and
How Will We Get There?

CHAPTER OBJECTIVES

On completion of this chapter, you should be able to

1. Explain several approaches to what philosophy is all about.
2. Identify various areas of thought traditionally investigated by
philosophers.
3. Discuss how philosophy is a journey.
4. Relate the story of Socrates’ life and death.
5. Explain the Socratic method.
6. Discuss three central theses about living well held by
Socrates.
7. Interpret various levels of meaning in Plato’s Allegory of
the Cave.
8. Apply six criteria for evaluating philosophical claims and
theories.
9. Define an argument in the philosophical sense.
10. Distinguish the three kinds of arguments: deductive,
inductive, inference to the best explanation.

3
 1. 0 OV E RV IEW O F T H E J O UR N E Y

In a 19th-century work, the Danish philosopher and literary genius Søren Kierkegaard
depicted one of his fictional characters sitting in a café worrying about the fact that he
has no mission or purpose in life.* He despairs over the fact that many in his age have
served humanity and have achieved fame and admiration by making life easier and easier
for people. He mentions the convenience and ease that have been brought by the inven-
tion of railways, buses, steamboats, the telegraph, and easily accessible encyclopedias.
With a sense of failure he asks himself, “And what are you doing?” It seems clear to him
that he could not compete with other people in making life easier. Searching for his mis-
sion in life, he finally comes up with this idea:
Suddenly this thought flashed through my mind: “You must do something, but inas-
much as with your limited capacities it will be impossible to make anything easier
than it has become, you must, with the same humanitarian enthusiasm as the others,
undertake to make something harder.” This notion pleased me immensely, and at the
same time it flattered me to think that I, like the rest of them, would be loved and
esteemed by the whole community. For when all combine in every way to make
everything easier, there remains only one possible danger, namely, that the ease
becomes so great that it becomes altogether too great; then there is only one want
left, though it is not yet a felt want, when people will want difficulty. Out of love for
mankind, and out of despair at my embarrassing situation, seeing that I had accom-
plished nothing and was unable to make anything easier than it had already been
made, and moved by a genuine interest in those who make everything easy, I con-
ceived it as my task to create difficulties everywhere.1

STOP AND THINK

Why would someone want to make life more difficult? In what ways could a philosopher
such as Kierkegaard make life more difficult for his readers? Even more important, why
would we want to read an author who took this as his mission in life?

PHILOSOPHY AND AEROBICS

You might get some perspective on the questions in the box if you notice that those
things that are cheap and come easiest in life are usually those things that are worth little
in the long run. A quarter will get you a gum ball from a machine. A gum ball is cheap
and easy to obtain, but its only value is a few minutes of pleasure. On the other hand, the
mother’s labor pains bring forth new life, the musician’s long hours of practice produce
musical perfection, the athlete’s pain and determination are rewarded with self-mastery
and athletic records, and the writer’s creative struggles in the face of dozens of rejection
slips may produce a great novel. In each case, something of value was gained, but only as
the result of great difficulty and persistent effort.

*Although it is not always safe to assume that the words of Kierkegaard’s fictional characters
reflect his own sentiments, in this case they repeat what Kierkegaard says many times over about
himself.

4 CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION TO THE PHILOSOPHICAL JOURNEY

 Perhaps Kierkegaard’s point is that only by facing the really difficult issues in life will we
gain something that is truly valuable. His mission was to coax us, to irritate us, and to pro-
voke us into making the effort necessary to overcome our reticence to face one of life’s most
difficult but rewarding tasks: honest, personal reflection. For Kierkegaard, this activity was
the heart and soul of philosophy. Like many other strenuous but valuable activities, becom-
ing a philosopher can involve intellectual labor pains, practice, determination, and creative
struggling. But philosophy obviously does not produce the tangible rewards of the sort
enjoyed by the mother, musician, athlete, or novelist. What, then, is the reward of doing
philosophy? According to Kierkegaard, what philosophy can give us is self-understanding.
Self-understanding involves knowing who I really am apart from the masks I present to oth-
ers, the social roles I fulfill, or the labels and descriptions imposed on me by my society and
my peers. It also involves understanding my beliefs and values and being aware of why I act
the way I do, including knowing whether my actions result from my own authentic choices
or from taken-for-granted, unexamined assumptions, or the influences of my culture.
At first glance, it would seem that self-understanding is something that everyone would
desire. But Kierkegaard thought that it was not only the most important goal in life, but also
the most difficult one. Furthermore, he claimed that it is something that we are often tempted
to avoid. It is much easier to be complacent, to be self-satisfied, and to stick with beliefs that
are comfortable and familiar than to be painfully and fully honest with ourselves and to sub-
ject our deepest convictions to examination. Fitness centers promote the saying, “No pain, no
gain.” The same is true with our struggles to become fully realized and actualized persons. In
fact, philosophy could be viewed as “aerobics for the human mind.” In Kierkegaard’s day,
everyone was claiming to provide the answers to everyone else’s problems. Kierkegaard, how-
ever, thought that his greatest contribution to society would be to provide the problems to
everyone’s answers. Only in this way, he thought, would we be goaded into searching for those
answers that are worthy of our belief. Kierkegaard has provided us with our first definition of
philosophy: Philosophy is the search for self-understanding.

PHILOSOPHY AND LOVE

The term philosophy literally means “the love of wisdom.” It is said that the first one to call
himself a philosopher was Pythagoras, a Greek who lived somewhere between 570 and
495 b.c. and spent most of his life in southern Italy. He is, of course, best known for his
famous mathematical theorem. When once asked if he was wise, he replied that no one
could be wise but a God, but that he was a lover of wisdom. To love something does not
mean to possess it but to focus our life on it. Whereas Pythagoras introduced the term
­philosopher, it was Socrates who made it famous. He said that the philosopher was one who
had a passion for wisdom and who was intoxicated by this love. This description makes
quite a contrast with the image of the philosopher as being cold and analytical—sort of a
walking and talking computer. On the contrary, the cognitive and the emotional are com-
bined in philosophy, for we do not rationally deliberate about those issues in life that are
deeply trivial. When I pick up my copy of the daily campus newspaper, for example, I don’t
stand there and reason about which copy to grab. On the other hand, those issues that are
most important to us are such things as our religious commitments (or lack of them), our
moral values, our political commitments, our career, or (perhaps) who we will share our
lives with. Unlike the trivial task of choosing a newspaper, such issues as our deepest loves,
convictions, and commitments demand our deepest thought and most thorough rational
reflection. Philosophy, in part, is the search for that kind of wisdom that will inform the
beliefs and values that enter into these crucial decisions. Thanks to Pythagoras and
Socrates, we now have a second definition: Philosophy is the love and pursuit of wisdom.

Overview of the Journey 5

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The Project Gutenberg eBook of The printers,
stationers and bookbinders of Westminster
and London from 1476 to 1535
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Title: The printers, stationers and bookbinders of Westminster

and London from 1476 to 1535

Author: E. Gordon Duff

Release date: April 1, 2024 [eBook #73310]

Language: English

Original publication: Cambridge: University Press, 1906

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Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced
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*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE

PRINTERS, STATIONERS AND BOOKBINDERS OF
WESTMINSTER AND LONDON FROM 1476 TO 1535 ***
The Sandars Lectures
1899 and 1904
CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS WAREHOUSE,
C. F. CLAY, Manager.
London: FETTER LANE, E.C.
Glasgow: 50, WELLINGTON STREET.

Leipzig: F. A. BROCKHAUS.
New York: G. P. PUTNAM’S SONS.
Bombay and Calcutta: MACMILLAN AND CO., Ltd.

[All Rights reserved]

 The Printers, Stationers
and Bookbinders
of Westminster and London
from 1476 to 1535
By

E. GORDON DUFF, M.A. Oxon.

Sometime Sandars Reader in Bibliography in
the University of Cambridge

Cambridge
at the University Press
1906
 Cambridge:
PRINTED BY JOHN CLAY, M.A.
AT THE UNIVERSITY PRESS.
 TO

FRANCIS JOHN HENRY JENKINSON

IN REMEMBRANCE OF MUCH KINDNESS

AND MUCH PLEASANT WORK

IN CAMBRIDGE
 PREFACE

T HE lectures contained in the present volume I delivered as

Sandars Reader in two series, the first in the Lent Term 1899,
the second in the May Term 1904 and they are thus separated
by an interval of five years. Of the first series a small edition was
privately printed for presentation, but never published, the second
series is now printed for the first time. Though the second part forms
a continuation of the first, the two are quite distinct. With the close of
the fifteenth century many important changes took place in the
English book-trade, and its conditions altered to a great extent, so
that the period from 1476 to 1500 has many essential points of
difference from the period between 1501 and 1535 and they can with
advantage be treated separately. I have thought it best therefore not
to attempt to combine the two series, but to issue them, with certain
corrections and additions in their original form.
It remains to express my sincere thanks to Dr Jenkinson, the
University Librarian who was kind enough to read the proofs, and to
Mr H. G. Aldis to whom I am indebted for the excellent index.
E. G. D.
April, 1906.
 LIST OF PLATES
(These plates are the full size of the originals.)
1. Title-page to W. de Worde’s edition of the to face p.
‘Book of Good Manners’ 36
From the unique copy in the University Library,
Cambridge.
2. Machlinia Border used by R. Pynson in to face p.
‘Aphthonii Sophistae Praeexercitamenta’ 56
From the copy in the University Library, Cambridge.
3. Page of the Sarum Breviary printed by R. de to face p.
Novimagio at Venice in 1483 74
From the unique copy in the Bibliothéque Nationale.
4. Binding of Frederick Egmont on a copy of to face p.
‘Lavacrum Conscientiae’ printed at Rouen 114
From the example in the library of Caius College,
Cambridge.
5. Unrecorded device used by W. de Worde in to face p.
the ‘Manipulus Curatorum’ of 1502 132
From the unique copy in the Bodleian Library.
6. Title-page to R. Redman’s edition of
Lyndewode’s to face p.
‘Constitutions’ of 1534 176
From the copy in the University Library, Cambridge.
7. Device of Christopher Endhoven from the
Sarum to face p.
‘Processionale’ printed at Antwerp in 1525 222
From the copy in the Bodleian Library.
 PART I.
1476-1500.

LECTURE I.
THE PRINTERS AT WESTMINSTER.
While the history of the invention and introduction of the art of
printing into the various countries of Europe is not only obscure, but
still the subject of endless controversy, the history of its introduction
into England is now practically settled.
There are no troublesome and incomprehensible documents as in
the case of France. No questionable references or undatable
fragments such as Dutch and German bibliographers have to
contend with. The only attempt that has been made to bring forward
an earlier printer than William Caxton is founded upon the misprinted
date in the first book printed at Oxford.
In 1664, while the Company of Stationers and the King were
quarrelling over the question which had or should have the most
power in matters pertaining to printing, a certain Richard Atkyns put
forth a tract, now exceedingly rare, called The Original and Growth of
Printing. In this tract, intended to uphold the King’s rights, attention
was drawn for the first time to the Oxford book. “A book came into
my hands,” writes Atkyns, “printed at Oxford, a.d. 1468, which was
three years before any of the recited authors would allow it to be in
England.” Around this book Atkyns wove a wonderful romance, in
the style of the earlier legends about Coster and Gutenberg.
Rumours of the new art, he suggests, having reached England,
trusted men were sent over to bribe or kidnap an eligible printer and
bring him over secretly, along with a press, type, and other
impedimenta, to England. This was accordingly done, and a certain
Frederick Corsellis was conveyed into England, and set up a press
in Oxford. One curious point has escaped all commentators on this
story, and that is that a real person named Corsellis did come over to
England from the Low Countries about that time, and was an
ancestor of several well-known London families in Atkyns’s time,
such as the Van Ackers, the Wittewronges and the Middletons.
Atkyns referred for evidence to documents which have never been
found, and his story has met with the disbelief it deserved, but the
Oxford book with the date of 1468 not only exists, but still has
supporters who consider, or say they consider, the date to be
genuine.
Singer in the early part of the century wrote a book in favour of its
authenticity, though, as he afterwards attempted to suppress his
work, we may conclude he had changed his opinion. Mr Madan of
the Bodleian, in his recent admirable history of Oxford printing, clings
hesitatingly to 1468, “but quaere” as he would himself say. Generally,
however it is agreed that the date is a misprint for 1478. The book
has printed signatures, which are not known to have been used
before 1472, and when the book is placed alongside the two others
issued from the same press in 1479 and printed in the same type, it
falls naturally into its proper place, taking just the small precedence
which its slightly lesser excellence of workmanship warrants.
Having now disposed of Caxton’s only rival, let us turn to Caxton
himself. It would, I think, be out of place here to recapitulate however
shortly the history of Caxton’s early life, since it has been so fully and
excellently done in that standard book Blades’s Life of Caxton. What
is more to our purpose is to pass on to the time when, as an
influential and prosperous man, he laid the foundations of his career
as a printer. By 1463 Caxton had been appointed to the office of
governor of the English nation in the Low Countries, a post of
considerable importance, and entailing the supervision of trade and
traders, and this office he held until about the year 1469. At this latter
date he was also in the service of the Duchess of Burgundy, though
in what capacity is not stated; but he certainly employed himself at
her request in making translations of romances. The Recuyell of the
Historyes of Troye, a well-known romance of the period, was
translated between the years 1469 and 1471, and presented to the
duchess in September of the latter year. In the prologue of the
printed edition Caxton explains that after the duchess had received
her copy, many other persons desired copies also, but that finding
the labour of writing too wearisome for him, and not expeditious
enough for his friends, he had “practised and learnt, at his great
charge and expense, to ordain the book in print, to the end that
every man might have them at once.”
Now in 1471, when Caxton finished his translation of the Recueil, he
was living at Cologne, a city remarkable even at that time for the
number of its printers, and the first town that Caxton had visited
where the art was practised. He had just finished the tedious copying
of a large manuscript, so that the advantages of printing would be
manifest to him; and we may be tolerably certain that it was about
this time and at this town that he took his first lessons in the art and
mastered the mechanical processes.
Printing by this time had ceased to be a secret art, nor was there
such a demand for books as to make it a very valuable one. The
printed books of Germany had at an early date found their way to
Bruges, and people’s eyes were accustomed to the sight of the
printed page, though the nobles still preferred manuscripts, as being
more ornamental and costly. There are copies in the Cambridge
University Library and at Lambeth of the Cicero de officiis, printed at
Mainz by Schoiffer in 1466, which were bought in 1467 at Bruges by
John Russell, afterwards Bishop of Lincoln, when abroad on a
diplomatic mission; and a speech of his, delivered at Ghent in 1470,
on the occasion of the investiture of the Duke of Burgundy with the
order of the Garter, was one of Caxton’s earliest printed productions.
A very strong piece of evidence to my mind that Caxton learnt at
Cologne is to be found in the epilogue to the English translation of
the De proprietatibus rerum, by Bartholomæus Anglicus, which was
printed by W. de Worde, Caxton’s apprentice and successor, in
1496. This epilogue, written by De Worde himself, contains these
lines:—

And also of your charyte call to remembraunce,

 The soule of William Caxton, first prynter of this boke,
In Laten tonge at Coleyn, hymself to avaunce,
That every well disposyd man, may theron loke.

Now this is a perfectly clear statement that Caxton printed a

Bartholomæus in Latin at Cologne, and we know an edition of the
book manifestly printed at Cologne about the time Caxton was there.
The type in which it is printed greatly resembles that of some other
Cologne printers, and it seems to be connected with some of
Caxton’s Bruges types. At any rate, the story cannot be put aside as
without foundation. It is not, of course, suggested that Caxton printed
the book by himself or owned the materials, but only that he assisted
in its production. He was learning the art of printing in the office
where this book was being prepared, and his practical knowledge
was acquired by assisting to print it.
Returning to Bruges, he set about turning his knowledge to account,
and in partnership with a writer of manuscripts, named Colard
Mansion, began to make or obtain the necessary materials.
Between the years 1471, when Caxton had learned the art at
Cologne, and 1474, when he set about obtaining material, printing-
presses had started work at Utrecht, Alost, and Louvain. Caxton
would most naturally turn for assistance to a town in his own
neighbourhood, and there is very little doubt that this town was
Louvain, and that the printer who assisted him was John Veldener.
About 1475 their first book was issued, the Recuyell of the Historyes
of Troye, the first book printed in the English language. It is a small
thick folio of 352 leaves, and though not uncommon in an imperfect
condition, is of the very greatest rarity when perfect. Two other books
were printed by 1476, The Game and Playe of the Chesse and the
Quatre derrenières choses, the latter a very rare book, of which only
two copies are known.
In 1476 Caxton obtained a new fount of type, and leaving the first
fount with Colard Mansion, who continued to use it for a short time,
prepared to set out with his new material for England.
It must have been early in 1476 that Caxton returned and set to
work. He took up his residence in Westminster at a house with the
heraldic sign of the “Red Pale,” which was situated in the Almonry, a
place close to the Abbey where alms were distributed to the poor,
and where Margaret, Countess of Richmond, the mother of Henry
VII., and a great patroness of learning, built alms-houses. The exact
position of Caxton’s house is not known, but it was probably on
some part of the ground lately covered by the Westminster
Aquarium.
The first dated book printed in England was the Dictes or Sayengis
of the Philosophres, translated from the French by Earl Rivers, a
friend and patron of Caxton, and edited by Caxton himself, who
added the chapter “concernyng wymmen,” a chapter which, with its
prologue, exhibits a considerable amount of humour.
It is interesting to notice that, as the book is in English, we alone of
European nations started our press with a book in the vernacular.
The ordinary copies of the Dictes are without colophon, though the
printer and year are in the epilogue, but a copy formerly in the
Althorp Library and now at Manchester has an imprint which states
that the book was finished on the 18th November, 1477. Although we
count the Dictes or Sayengis as the first book printed in England on
account of its being the first dated book, it is quite possible that some
may have preceded it. Between the time of Caxton’s arrival in 1476
and the end of 1478 about twenty-one books were printed, and only
two have imprints, so that the rest are merely ranged conjecturally by
the evidence of type or other details. Now in 1510 W. de Worde
issued an edition of King Apolyn of Tyre, translated from the French
by one of his assistants, Robert Copland, who in his preface writes
as follows: “My worshipful master Wynken de Worde, having a little
book of an ancient history of a kyng, sometyme reigning in the
countree of Thyre called Appolyn, concernynge his malfortunes and
peryllous aduentures right espouuentables, bryefly compyled and
pyteous for to here, the which boke I Robert Coplande have me
applyed for to translate out of the Frensshe language into our
maternal Englysshe tongue at the exhortacion of my forsayd
mayster, accordynge dyrectly to myn auctor, gladly followynge the
trace of my mayster Caxton, begynnynge with small storyes and
pamfletes and so to other.” Now this Robert Copland was spoken of
a little later as the oldest printer in England, so that he may well have
known a good deal about the beginning of Caxton’s career. We find
a very similar case in Scotland. Printing was introduced there mainly
for the purpose of printing the Aberdeen Breviary, but the first thing
the printers did was to issue a series of small poetical pieces by
Dunbar, Chaucer, and others, an exactly similar kind of set to the
small Caxton pieces in the Cambridge University Library.
In connexion with these Caxton pieces I noticed the other day a
strange statement. The writer was speaking of Henry Bradshaw’s
knowledge of Caxton, and went on to say that “to his bibliographical
genius the Cambridge University Library owes the possession of its
many unique Caxtons and unique Caxton fragments.” The library,
however, owes them mainly to the much-maligned John Bagford,
who collected the early English books which came to the University
with Bishop Moore’s library. The monstrous collection of title-pages
in the British Museum, generally associated with Bagford’s name,
was made by the venerated founder of English bibliography, Joseph
Ames.
Before the end of 1478 Caxton had printed about twenty-one books.
Of these sixteen were small works, all containing less than fifty
leaves; of the others the most important is the first edition of the
Canterbury Tales, of which there is, I think, no perfect copy. Blades
speaks of a fine perfect copy in the library of Merton College, Oxford,
and remarks also that Dibdin ignorantly spoke of it as imperfect. In
Dibdin’s time, however, it certainly was imperfect, for I have seen
some notes of Lord Spencer’s referring to his having sent some
leaves from an imperfect copy to the college to assist them in
perfecting their own, a courtesy which they repaid by presenting to
the library at Althorp their duplicate and only other known copy of
Wednesday’s Fast printed by W. de Worde in 1532.
Among the other books of the period of special interest is the
Propositio Johannis Russell, which has often been ascribed to the
Bruges press, as the speech of which it consists was delivered in the
Low Countries. Lord Spencer’s copy had a curious history. It is
bound up in a volume of English and Latin MSS., and in the Brand
sale in 1807 the volume appeared among the MSS., with a note, “A
work on Theology and Religion with five leaves at the end, a very
great curiosity, very early printed on wooden blocks, or type.” It was
bought by the Marquis of Blandford for forty-five shillings, and at his
sale ten years after cost Lord Spencer £126.
Another interesting book is the Infancia Salvatoris, of which the only
known copy is at Göttingen, being one of the two unique Caxtons
which are in foreign libraries. It was originally in the Harleian Library,
which was sold entire to Osborne the bookseller, and was bought
with many other books for the Göttingen University. It is in its old red
Harleian binding, with Osborne’s price, fifteen shillings marked
inside, and the note of the Göttingen librarian: “aus dem Katalogen
Thomas Osborne in London 12 Maii 1749 (No. 4179) erkauft.”
In the first group of books comes also the only printed edition of the
Sarum Ordinale or Pica, which was superseded by Clement
Maydeston’s Directorium Sacerdotum. Unfortunately the book is only
known from some fragments rescued from a binding and now in the
British Museum. To it refers the curious little advertisement put out
by Caxton, the only example of a printer’s advertisement in England
in the fifteenth century, though we know of many foreign specimens:
“If it plese ony man spirituel or temporel to bye ony pyes of two and
thre comemoracions of salisburi use, enpryntid after the forme of this
present lettre whiche ben wel and truly correct, late hym come to
westmonester in to the almonesrye at the reed pale and he shal
haue them good chepe.” So far the advertisement; below it is the
appeal to the public, “Supplico stet cedula.” It seems curious that this
should be in Latin, for one would naturally suppose that the ones
most likely to tear down the advertisement would be the persons
ignorant of that language.
Two copies of this advertisement are known, one in the Bodleian,
and another, formerly in the Althorp collection, at Manchester. It has
been suggested that both copies may have been at one time
extracted from some old binding in the Cambridge University Library.
The example at Manchester certainly belonged at one time to
Richard Farmer, who was University Librarian, but the Bodleian
example was found by Francis Douce in a binding in his own
collection.
The group of eight small books in the University Library which I
spoke of as perhaps printed earlier than the Dictes or Sayengis were
originally all bound together in one volume in old calf, and lettered
“Old poetry printed by Caxton.” This precious volume contained the
Stans Puer ad Mensam, the Parvus Catho, The Chorle and the Bird,
The Horse the Shepe and the Goose, The Temple of Glas, The
Temple of Brass, The Book of Courtesy, and Anelida and Arcyte,
and of five of these no other copies are known.
About 1478-9 was issued the Rhetorica Nova of Laurentius of
Savona, of which two copies are known, one in the Library of Corpus
Christi College, Cambridge, the other in the University Library of
Upsala. Now although this book had been known and examined by
many for two hundred years, and is printed in the most widely used
of Caxton’s types, yet it was not recognised as a Caxton until it was
examined by Henry Bradshaw in 1861. The colophon says that the
work was compiled in the University of Cambridge in 1478, and it
was in consequence described by all the early writers as the first
book printed at Cambridge. Strype wrote an account of the Corpus
copy to Bagford, who in his turn wrote of it to Tanner, and he in his
turn communicated it to Ames. Ames then inserted it at the head of
his list of books printed at Cambridge, and the mistake, as is usual in
such cases, was copied in turn by each succeeding writer on
printing.
In 1480 considerable changes are to be found in Caxton’s methods
of work, owing no doubt to competition, for in this year a press was
started in London by a certain John Lettou. He appears to have been
a practised printer, and his work is certainly better than Caxton’s, his
type much smaller and neater, and the page more regularly printed.
He also introduced into England the use of signatures. Signatures
are the small letters printed at the foot of the page which were
intended to serve as a guide to the bookbinder in gathering up the
sheets. From the earliest times they were added in writing both to
manuscripts and the earliest printed books, but about 1472 printers
began to print them in type, and the habit soon became general.
Caxton’s use of signatures begins in 1480 and was doubtless copied
from the London printer.
At the beginning of 1480 Caxton had printed an indulgence in his
large type, the second of his founts, and immediately afterwards the
London printer issued another edition in his small neat type. Caxton
promptly had another fount cut of small type, and issued with it a
third edition of the indulgence.
It is a matter much to be regretted that Henry Bradshaw never
issued one of his Memoranda on the subject of these indulgences,
for he had collected much interesting information, and was the first to
point out the variations in the wording of the different issues as well
as the discoverer of several unknown examples.
The year 1481 saw the introduction of illustrations, which were first
used in the Mirror of the World. In it there are two sets of cuts, one
depicting various masters, either alone or with several pupils, the
other are merely diagrams copied from those found in manuscripts of
the work. These diagrams are meagre and difficult to understand, so
much so that the printer himself has put several in their wrong
places. The explanatory words inside the diagrams, which would no
doubt have been printed in type had Caxton had a fount small
enough, are written by hand. It is interesting to notice that in all
copies of the book the same handwriting is found, though I am afraid
it would be unsafe to conclude it to be Caxton’s. The period from
1480 to 1483 is the least interesting as regards Caxton’s books.
Besides the Mirror of the World only two books contain woodcuts;
the Catho, and the second edition of the Game and Playe of the
Chesse. The two cuts in the Catho had been used before in the
Mirror, but the sixteen in the chess-book are specially cut, though
clearly by a different artist from the one who made those for the
Mirror. Mr Linton in his book on wood-engraving expressed the
opinion that many of these cuts were of soft metal, treated in the
same manner as a wood-block, but whenever we find any of them in
use for a long period, the breaks which occur in them and the
occurrence sometimes even of worm-holes show that the cut must
have been of wood.