Used Books

Philosophy Books for Sale

J. MARTIN STAFFORD is a graduate of the Universities of Manchester and Sheffield and the author of a score of articles on the history of ethics and the philosophy of sex and of the entries on Bernard Mandeville, David Hume, Herbert Spencer, Edward Westermarck and Roger Scruton in Sex from Plato to Paglia – a Philosophical Encyclopedia edited by Alan Soble, 2 vols. (Greenwood Press, 2006).

He is selling off duplicate and redundant books from his library. Most of them are in fine to mint condition with dust wrappers.

Prices include postage within the

on orders of £40-00 or more. Under £20-00, please enquire to orders@ismeron.co.uk A discount may be negotiable on orders over £100-00.

Philosophical Works of A. J. Ayer

Eight hardback volumes published in London by Macmillan between 1954 and 1972. Six are first editions. All are in very fine condition with very fine dust wrappers except where noted.

1. Philosophical Essays, 1954. 289 pages. d/w mounted on matching paper. Some damp staining on top corners of boards, otherwise a very fine copy. £25

2. The Problem of Knowledge, 1956. d/w may be later than book. 258 pages. £30

3. The Concept of a Person and other essays, 1963, reprinted 1964. 272 pages. £30

4. The Foundations of Empirical Knowledge (1955 – fifth impression). Very Fine in very fine dust wrapper, through bearing slight indications of its provenance in Birmingham University’s Extra Mural Library: viz. small neat stamps on front endpapers and verso of title page. £25

5. The Origins of Pragmatism – Studies in the Philosophy of Charles Sanders Peirce and William James, 1968. 347 pages. £30

6. Metaphysics and Common Sense, 1969. 267 pages. £30

7. Russell and Moore: The Analytical Heritage, 1971. 254 pages. £25

8. Probability and Evidence, 1972. 144 pages. £25

Also available:

9. Part of My Life, (London: Collins, 1977). 318 pages. Ayer’s account of his own life and career up to his return to academic philosophy in 1946 after wartime service.

Title page inscribed and signed by the author: "To John Weston with best wishes A.J. Ayer July 20^th 1977". £30

The above nine books may be bought as a collection for £200-00 – a discount of 20%.

10. John Foster: A. J. Ayer ‘The Arguments of the Philosophers’ (London: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1985) Hardback xv + 307 Very fine in similar dust wrapper. £35

Works by and about George Berkeley

11. Harry M. Bracken: The Early Reception of Berkeley’s Immaterialism 1710-1733 (The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff, 1959) xii +123 pages p/b Very fine copy. £15

12. G. Dawes Hicks: Berkeley ‘Leaders of Philosophy’ (London: Ernest Benn, 1932) A very good copy, though ex- Rotherham Public Library. Only minor indications of its provenance. £25

13. A.A. Luce: Berkeley’s Immaterialism (Nelson, 1945) First edition. xii + 163 pages. Very fine copy. No dust wrapper. £20.

14. A.D. Ritchie: George Berkeley –a Reappraisal, edited with a preface by G. E. Davie (Manchester U.P. 1967) First edition. xviii + 189 pages. Virtually mint in similar d/w. £30

15. I. C. Tipton: Berkeley – the Philosophy of Immaterialism (Methuen, 1974) First edition. viii + 397 pages. Mint in mint d/w. £30

16. G.J. Warnock: Berkeley (Peregrine, 1969) 240 pages. As new but for minor exudations from sellotape on half title and final pages. £5

Works about Descartes

17. Norman [Kemp] Smith: Studies in the Cartesian Philosophy (London: Macmillan & Co., 1902 First edition viii + 276 pages. A very nice copy. Neat repair to title page. £25

18. Norman Kemp Smith: New Studies in the Philosophy of Descartes (Macmillan, 1963). Almost mint copy in similar d/w. £30

Works by and about Leibniz

20. -------- The Monadology and other Philosophical Writings translated and edited by Robert Latta (Oxford U.P., 1965) 437 pages. Almost mint copy in similar d/w. £20

21. -------- Discourse on Metaphysics translated and edited by Lucas & Grant. (Manchester U.P. 1968). xxix + 63 pages. Mint in mint d/w. £10

22. Nicholas Rescher: The Philosophy of Leibniz ((Prentice Hall, 1967) Paperback, first edition. Almost mint copy. £10

23. Bertrand Russell: The Philosophy of Leibniz (Allen & Unwin, 1967). xxiv + 311 pages. Mint copy in mint d/w. £30

Scottish Philosophy, including Hume

24. Ralph W. Church: Hume’s Theory of the Understanding (London: Allen & Unwin, 1968) 238 pages. (Facsimile reprint of the 1935 edition.) Mint in mint d/w apart from my name on front endpaper. £30

25. Sir William Forbes: An Account of the Life and Writings of James Beattie, 2 Vols. 4^to, (Edinburgh: Archibald Constable [et al.] 1806) First Edition. 409 + 431 pages. Full calf binding, somewhat worn but still respectable; marbled endpapers. No half-title to Vol. 1 and frontispiece portrait supplied in carefully matched facsimile from another copy in my possession. Front free endpaper and half-title to Vol.2 repaired. Apart from these defects it is otherwise a good copy. A better copy has recently been on abebooks.com at £575-00. £100

26. John Rae: Life of Adam Smith (London, Macmillan, 1895) xv + 449 pages + adverts. Ex YMCA library but a good copy. Rebound in half red lather and black cloth. £25.

27. Francis Hutcheson: An Essay on the Nature and Conduct of the Passions and Affections with Illustrations on the Moral Sense (1728) (London: Scolar Press, 1972). 333 pages. As new apart from inscription on front free end paper. £10

29. Fr. Vinding Kruse: Hume’s Philosophy in his Principle Work A Treatise of Human Nature and in his Essays. Translated by P. T. Federspiel. (Oxford University Press, 1939) 67 pages. A nice clean copy with small library stamps on half-title and title pages. Rebound in fawn rexine. £15

30. Sir James Mackintosh: Memoirs of the Life of… Edited by his son. 2 Vols. Second Edition. (London: Edward Moxon, 1836) xi + 499, vii + 524 pages. Full calf binding, with some ink staining on the front board of Vol. 1 and a small portion of back missing at the foot of Vol. 2 but repaired. Contents clean and fresh, with very little foxing. £65

31. James McCosh: The Scottish Philosophy (Georg Olms, Hildesheim, 1966). Reprinted from the 1875 edition. ix + 481 pages. A very fine copy with inscriptions on front free endpaper and slight discolouration to both free endpapers. £25

32. Richard Olson: Scottish Philosophy and British Physics 1750-1880 (Princeton U.P. 1975) 349 pages. A mint copy in mint d/w. £40

35. Thomas Reid: Essays on the Active Powers of Man Introduction by Baruch A Brody (M.I.T. Press, 1969) Paperback, xxiv + 481 pages. Virtually mint copy. £10

36. Alban Small: Adam Smith and Modern Sociology. (A. M. Kelley, Clifton NJ, 1972) Reprinted from the 1907 edition. xii + 247 pages. A mint copy. £25

Miscellaneous books – mainly Ethics and Politics

39. Lord Bolingbroke: The Works of..... in Four Volumes (London: Henry G. Bohn, 1844 reprinted, Frank Cass, 1967). Vol. 1, 514 pp; Vol. 2, 508 pp; Vol. 3, 535 pp; Vol. 4, 531 pp. Maroon cloth with black pseudo-labels. A nice set in almost mint condition except that the top corners of the front free end papers have been clipped. £100

42. Maurice Cranston: Freedom – a new analysis. (Longman, Green & Co., 1953). First edition. 177 pages. A very fine copy. No d/w. £15

45. D.W. Hamlyn: The Theory of Knowledge (Macmillan, 1970). Mint in mint d/w. £15

48. Eugene Kamenka: The Ethical Foundations of Marxism (RKP, 1972) Second edition. xxii + 208 pages. Mint copy in mint d/w. £25

50. David Lyons: Forms and Limits of Utilitarianism. (1965) (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1970). xvi + 225 pages. Mint copy in mint d/w. (225 pages). £25

53. John Plamenatz: Man and Society (Longman, Green & Co., 1963) 2 vols., xxii + 455; xxii + 472 pages. First edition of this classic work. Vol. 1 deals with nine thinkers from Machiavelli to Rousseau; Vol. 2 with Bentham, early socialists, Hegel and Marx. Very fine in undamaged dust wrappers. £55

56. A. H. Smith: A Treatise on Knowledge (1943) (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1946) 182 pages. V. fine copy, no d/w. Deals with Hume’s and Kant’s treatment of our consciousness of objects. £15

60. Sheldon S. Wolin: Politics and Vision (London: George Allen & Unwin, 1961) 529 pages. Very fine copy of first English edition in almost mint d/w. £25