Anthony Collins
Anthony Collins ( born June 21, 1676 in Heston, † December 13, 1729 in London) was an English philosopher of the early Enlightenment and contemporary of John Locke, with whom he maintained a close friendship.
Life and work
He began his education on June 21, 1676 Eton College and at King's College, Cambridge. His tutor at Cambridge was Francis Hare ( 1671-1740 ). Thereafter, beginning November 24, 1694, he studied law at the Honorable Society of the Middle Temple in London. He married in 1698 Martha Child ( 1676-1703 ), the daughter of Sir Francis Child ( 1642-1713 ), a Lord Mayor of London. The couple had three children. From 1715 he lived in Great Baddow ( Essex ), where he was vice - lieutenant of Essex, deputy - lieutenant for Essex.
Spiritual Collins is known for deism, so to that form of monotheism, although emanating from the existence of God, but denied a divine order of prophets, to evangelize humanity. For him, ignorance was the ground of atheism and free thought his healing. For Collins, who published his works first appeared anonymously, in a violent conflict with the public opinion of his time. Especially of clerical support was a polemic against his views. Among his intellectual opponents included, among others, William Whiston, Bishop Benjamin Hoadly (1676-1761), Samuel Clarke, Thomas Sherlock (1678-1761) and Richard Bentley.
Multiple had to flee from the pressure of his adversary to Holland Collins. Undeterred by the sometimes harsh criticism of his attitude, Collins remained true to his principles and called for the liberation of thought from all dogmas. He advocated education as a right of all social classes, he saw the source of social disorder in the lack of education.
Due to the more or less faithful translations of works by Paul Henri Thiry d' Holbach in the period 1752-1760 found his texts and the writings of other English deists in the French -speaking reverberation.
Works
- Essay Concerning the Use of Reason in Propositions the Evidence whereof depends on Human Testimony (1707 ).
- Priest Craft in Perfection ( 1709).
- Vindication of the Divine Attributes (1710 ).
- A Discourse on Freethinking (1713 ). Digitalisat 1 in the Google Book Search, digitized 2 in the Google Book Search.
- A Discourse on the Grounds and Reasons of the Christian Religion ( 1724).