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Descartes

Edited by John Cottingham

Price: £24.99 (paper)
ISBN-13: 978-0-19-875182-3
Publication date: 25 June 1998
336 pages, 3 line illus., 203x135 mm
Series: Oxford Readings in Philosophy
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Description

Contains the best of the most recently published work available
Features leading Descartes scholars
Essays chosen for accessibility as well as scholarship, therefore suitable for both undergraduate and graduate students

This latest volume in the Oxford Readings in Philosophy series brings together some of the most influential and stimulating essays on Descartes' philosophy to have appeared in the last fifty years, edited by the renowned Descartes specialist Professor John Cottingham. A lucid introduction by the editor outlines the principle features of Descartes' philosophy and summarizes the main arguments of each chapter. Covering the full range of Descartes' thought, the volume opens with a cluster of central issues in Descartes' metaphysics: systematic doubt, the Cogito, clarity and distinctness, and the Cartesian Circle; followed by chapters on Descartes' theory of the will, and his account of necessity and possibility. Two notorious and interrelated problems in Descartes' system are then dealt with: the distinction between mind and body, and the unity of the human being. There follow chapters on Descartes' account of human nature and the passions, and his treatment of animals; and the volume closes with three chapters on Cartesian science, covering Descartes' views on the relationship between experiment and deduction, his account of scientific explanation, and the notion of causal agency or force in his physics. These broad-ranging and accessible perspectives on Descartes' work will be essential reading for students and specialists.

Contents

Introduction , John Cottingham

I. Descartes and the Metaphysics of Doubt , Michael Williams

II. The Cogito and its Importance , Peter Markie

III. Clearness and Distinctness in Descartes , Alan Gewirth

IV. Foundationalism, Epistemic Principles and the Cartesian Circle , James Van Cleve

V. Descartes on the Will , Anthony Kenny

VI. Descartes' Theory of Modality , Jonathan Bennett

VII. The Epistemological Argument for Mind-Body Distinctness , Margaret Wilson

VIII. Descartes and the Unity of Human Being , Genevieve Rodis-Lewis

IX. Descartes' Theory of the Passions , Stephen Gaukroger

X. Descartes' Treatment of Animals , John Cottingham

XI. Descartes, Method and the Role of Experiment , Daniel Garber

XII. Descartes' Concept of Scientific Explanation , Desmond Clarke

XIII. Force (God) in Descartes' Physics , Gary Hatfield

Notes on the Contributors

Bibliography

Table of Citations of Descartes' Works

Index

Authors, editors, and contributors

Edited by John Cottingham, Professor of Philosophy, University of Reading

Links to web resources and related information

More in the same subject area:
Modern Western philosophy, c 1600 to the present
Philosophy of mind
Metaphysics & ontology

The specification in this catalogue, including without limitation price, format, extent, number of illustrations, and month of publication, was as accurate as possible at the time the catalogue was compiled. Occasionally, due to the nature of some contractual restrictions, we are unable to ship a specific product to a particular territory. Jacket images are provisional and liable to change before publication.