Abstract

Hamilton's reputation as a philosopher was early established by an article "On the Philosophy of the Unconditioned" which appeared in The Edinburgh Review for 1820. It was mainly a critique of Victor Cousin's "absolutism" and was reprinted in Discussions on Philosophy and Literature, a volume which also included his "Philosophy of Perception" plus two philosophical appendices added to later editions. He edited Thomas Reid's Philosophical Works, and his editorial footnotes and long Dissertations at the end are crucial sources of his own philosophical thought. After his death his university lectures on metaphysics and logic were collected and published by H. L. Mansel and John Veitch. They were never prepared for publication by the author but are nevertheless important sources. They mesh well with Discussions and Notes and Dissertations, though the latter work shows certain changes in his thinking, including his increasing worry that Reid was not a natural realist.