The rise and fall of British Empiricism is philosophy's most dramatic example of pushing premises to their logical--and fatal--conclusions. Born in 1690 with the appearance of Locke's Essay , Empiricism flourished as the reigning school until 1739 when Hume's Treatise strangled it with its own cinctures after a period of Berkeley's optimistic idealism. The Empiricists collects the key writings on this important philosophy, perfect for those interested in learning about this movement with just one book.