ABSTRACT

The volume just concluded falls into three parts, the first and last of which form a continuous argument about the category of substance and the claims of substances to logical and ontological primacy over nonsubstances or modes. The second part supplements the argument by exploring some of the distinctive features of Locke's division of the sciences between substances and modes, a division closely related to his dual conception of law. It attempted to explain the form of his philosophical mechanism, and his conception of natural science as an understanding of the laws which flow necessarily from the actual natures or essences of substances. It also examined the structure of his rationalist ethics and his theistic theory of obligation, themes which are closely linked to his theory of personal identity. The chief unifying theme of the volume has been the distinction and relationship between what is natural, real, independent or 'given' and what is notional, ideal, minddependent or constructed, a distinction which is most directly dealt with in the course of Parts I and III.