Joseph Priestley

(1733 - 1804) - English philosopher, chemist, public figure. As a materialist, defended t. sp., according to the nature of the material-swarm, and spirit (consciousness) - is a property of matter, moving to an inevitable inherent in its laws. However, being a proponent of deism, P. believed that these very laws created a divine mind. The principle of materiality of the world P. combined the idea of strict causation of events, rejecting the assertion that such an approach man as a particle of matter is not responsible for their actions ( 'The study of matter and spirit', 1777). P. developed and popularized the doctrine D. Hartley that all mental processes, including abstract thinking and will take place on the nervous system, rooted in the laws of association