The Cambridge Companion to Descartes (Cambridge Companions to Philosophy) [Paperback]

John Cottingham (Editor)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0521366968 | ISBN-13: 978-0521366960 | Publication Date: September 25, 1992

Descartes occupies a position of piviotal importance as one of the founding fathers of modern philosophy; he is, perhaps the most widely studied of all philosophers. In this authoritative collection an international team of leading scholars in Cartesian studies present the full range of Descartes' extraordinary philosophical achievement. His life and the development of his thought, as well as the intellectual background to and reception of his work are treated at length. At the core of the volume are a group of chapters on his metaphysics: the celebrated "Cogito" argument, the proofs of God's existence, the "Cartesian circle" and the dualistic theory of the mind and its relation to his theological and scientific views. Other chapters cover the philosophical implications of his work in algebra, his place in the 17th century scientific revolution, the structure of his physics, and his work on physiology and psychology.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

"Descartes is still rightly called the father of modern philosophy," John Cottingham explains in his introduction to The Cambridge Companion to Descartes, for "without Descartes's philosophy, the very shape of the problems with which we still wrestle, about knowledge and science, subjectivity and reality, matter and consciousness, would have been profoundly different." Thus it is not only the philosophy of Descartes that is illuminated by the 14 essays contained herein, but also the philosophical predicament of today.

The contributors are among the most eminent scholars of Descartes's philosophy, including Cottingham, Roger Ariew, and Stephen Gaukroger (whose biography of Descartes should not be missed). Not all of the essays discuss Descartes's philosophy, however. Indeed, as Daniel Garber remarks, "in the seventeenth century Descartes was at very least equally well known for his mechanistic physics" as for any of his philosophical writings. The essays on his scientific work in algebra, psychology, and physiology are also fascinating. Still, at the heart of the Companion are the essays on Descartes's metaphysics. Peter Markie's careful discussion of the most famous sentence in philosophy--"cogito ergo sum"--is especially rewarding. Also worthwhile is Louis E. Loeb's thoughtful exploration of the Cartesian circle, which Descartes raises in his Meditations by arguing from God's existence to the trustworthiness of clear and distinct beliefs while also relying on the trustworthiness of such beliefs in order to prove that God exists. --Glenn Branch

Review

"...a collection of unusually fine papers....a valuable guide to contemporary interpretations of Descartes." Canadian Philosophical Reviews

"The Cambridge Companion to Descartes is designed to provide an overview of the scholarly conversation about Descartes's writings and make them accessible without trivialization. This book admirably fills its purpose." Emily R. Grosholz, Isis

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Product Details

• Paperback: 456 pages
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press (September 25, 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0521366968
• ISBN-13: 978-0521366960
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 6 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #326,413 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Very interesting reading, March 31, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: The Cambridge Companion to Descartes (Cambridge Companions to Philosophy) (Paperback)

Many of the books about Descartes do not achieve the depth that this book reaches. The contributors, from considering the antecedents of the Cartesian thought, analyze the most algid points in Descartes' philosophy, such as the Cogito, the Cartesian circle and his physics; the contributors also show the influence of Descartes' work in the context of his own epoch and his legacy for later centuries. I am sure that the purchase of this book will grant the reader a deeper vision of modernity; it also will be useful in the understanding of many contemporary philosophal tendencies.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Good introduction to Descartes, January 19, 2008

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Greg (Australia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Cambridge Companion to Descartes (Cambridge Companions to Philosophy) (Paperback)

Descartes is rightly considered as one of the greatest philosophers of all time. While his thought is subtle and nuanced, his new approach to Philosophy brought about a massive change in the direction of the subject and helped decisively end the medieval synthesis and worldview amoung serious philosophers.

This volume contains a series of essays on Descartes by leading experts on Descartes, including John Cottingham. As with the other Cambridge Volumes the bias is towards an analytical interpretation of Descartes, which mostly rejects his dualism as essentially meaningless. Nevertheless, the approach to modern philosophical issues in both the continent and the Anglo-American tradition were very much framed by the sorts of questions posed by Descartes, and his thought repays close and careful study. This volume will help students of Descartes in their quest to understand the thought of this pivotal thinker.