Cogito, Ergo Sum: The Life of Rene Descartes [Hardcover]

Richard A. Watson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 2002

This is the first biography of Ren Descartes published since 1920 to be based on extensive original archival research. It is also explicitly the life of Descartes, in the flesh and blood, not a compendium of technical analyses of philosophical positions found in 'life and works' biographies so dear to contemporary professional philosophers. Watson brings Descartes and his milieu to life as has never been done before.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Watson, veteran professor of philosophy at Washington University in St. Louis, specializes in books of horse sense that reflect a lifelong study of the philosophical greats; titles include The Philosopher's Diet, The Philosopher's Joke and The Philosopher's Demise. Watson's prose persona is the canny old uncle (or college lecturer), making distant and abstract history seem homey and accessible, yet with a light sense of humor that forestalls any potential charge of lowbrow philistinism. He here covers the diverse realms in which Descartes's thought takes place, from metaphysics to mathematics (where he invented analytic geometry), optics, medicine, physiology and psychology. The book is billed as the first since 1920 to contain original documentary research, as Watson combed libraries and European sites where Descartes lived. He typically relates Descartes's movements, such as going to Sweden to work for Queen Christina, with cracker-barrel philosophy: "Descartes was, I speculated, like a professor in the sticks, teaching at Podunk U., waiting for the fabled call from Harvard... But compared to the French court, Stockholm... was in the minor leagues not Harvard Ohio State maybe." In 13 chapters and a conclusion, with titles like "Descartes's Dog" and "Magic Kingdoms," the philosopher's story is recounted in readable prose, too folksy to be called academic, but not dumbed-down either. Readers with a passing interest will be satisfied and entertained.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

Watson (philosophy, Washington Univ., St. Louis) has produced the third major biography of Descartes to be published in the past few years, and he carefully distinguishes his work from the other two. He notes that while Genevieve Rodis-Lewis's Descartes: A Biography portrays Descartes primarily as a believer whose work supports Christian theology, Stephen Gaukroger's Descartes: An Intellectual Biography limns Descartes as "the Great Scientist." Watson avoids both orientations, instead aiming to offer "a skeptical biography, as full of doubt about tradition and authority as was Descartes himself" and "the only one ever written for general readers." In this he has succeeded admirably. The narrative in which Watson injects his own persona and experiences tracing Descartes throughout Europe is both rigorous and engrossing, and readers will see clearly how pertinent the 17th-century Descartes is to the modern world. This book belongs in all philosophy and biography collections. Leon H. Brody, U.S. Office of Personnel Management Lib., Washington, DC
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 384 pages
• Publisher: David R Godine Pub; 1 edition (April 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1567921841
• ISBN-13: 978-1567921847
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.2 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #937,155 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Richard Watson taught philosophy at Washington University in St. Louis for forty years. He is known for innovative work in Early Modern Philosophy: THE BREAKDOWN OF CARTESIAN METAPHYSICS (Hackett Publishing Company) and REPRESENTATIONAL IDEAS FROM PLATO TO PATRICIA CHURCHLAND (Kluwer Academic Publishers); and in Environmental Ethics and Philosophy of Geology. He is the author of three novels on the theme of obsession: UNDER PLOWMAN'S FLOOR (hb Zepyrus Press, pb Cave Books), THE RUNNER (hb Copple House Books, pb Cave Books) and NIAGARA (Coffee House Press), which is about the first man to walk across the Falls on a wire, and the first person (a woman) to go over the Falls in a barrel.

For more than fifty years he explored caves in the Mammoth Cave region, and with Roger W. Brucker he is the author of THE LONGEST CAVE (hb Alfred A. Knopf, pb Southern Illinois University Press), which has never been out of print since it was first published in 1976. He and Roger contend that it will never be out of print so long as people read books of adventure.

THE PHILOSOPHER'S DIET: HOW TO LOSE WEIGHT AND CHANGE THE WORLD (hb Atlantic Monthly Press, pb David R. Godine) has been translated into nine languages. THE PHILOSOPHER'S DEMISE: LEARNING FRENCH (hb University of Missouri Press, pb David R. Godine) has been translated into Italian. The French translation of NIAGARA (Coffee House Press) was featured at the Saint-Malo Etonnants Voyageurs Festival International du Livre in 1997, where it won a translation award. COGITO, ERGO SUM: THE LIFE OF RENE DESCARTES (hb & pb revised 2nd ed. David R. Godine) was chosen by the New York Public library as one of "25 Books to Remember from 2002."

William H. Gass characterizes Watson's writing as genere-busting, because he treats serious philosophical themes in uncoventional ways.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars a disgrace, November 29, 2005

By 

Fj Lievaart "Henry III" (Amsterdam Netherlands) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Cogito, Ergo Sum: The Life of Rene Descartes (Hardcover)

Richard Watson certainly seems like an amiable man, a great asset for your vernissage, your cocktail party, or any other function that merits a lively imagination above actual knowledge. I won't bore you stiff by addressing every blatant error in this book: it will suffice to say that our Prof. Disney has, single-handedly, come up with an entirely new successor to Prince Frederick-Henry of Orange (1584 - 1647): a certain Henry III. All it takes is a monkey (Descartes would have loved that) with a computer, to google himself to enlightenment: that the good prince Frederick Henry was in fact succeeded by his son William II, who was succeeded by his son, William III, Prince of Orange and King of England, Schotland and Ireland. 'Elementary, my dear Watson'. (And no, Richard: Descartes didn't meet Huygens in 1630, they first met in 1635, and no, no, Richard: 'Stadhouder' is not quite the same as 'Commander-in-Chief', and no, no, no, Richard: Constantijn Huygens served two, not three Stadhouders as first secretary, etc. etc.). All this nonsense in one page (160).

4 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Yellow Snow to be found here!, March 11, 2005

By 

Justin J. Thuet "Justin" (Salt Lake City) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Cogito, Ergo Sum: The Life of Rene Descartes (Hardcover)

I bought this book, and well let me say that the only thing I can find charming about this book is the cover, certainly not the contents contained. As the last person who has reviewed this book, I find this a horror of a book. I wish I had the chance to sit and down and survey the book in greater depth prior to my purchase, as there would have been much more worthy items for purchase then this! This book purports to be based upon `New' research, to which I question the author which and where the research was conducted, because the only thing I find new is the author discovering new cheeses while vacationing in the Netherlands! I have discovered new depths to my disappointment with this novel, at times I almost felt I was reading something like a dime novel.

There is almost a disconnected stream of consciousness flowing from the pages, One minute your reading about an encounter with a cardel, and the very next paragraph the author is talking about some experience with a purveyor of cheese, meat, or some garbage and then attempts to transition with some other stage of Descartes life. Which if they were connected with the subject (not the authors vacation) then it would be relevant, however any ties that I was able to find, the author was near where Descartes had stayed which hardly was relevant. I found this to be horribly jarring, the context interrupting and irrelevant with the subject. Sadly, this is not a book for someone looking to deepen their understanding of Descartes. This is simply a horrible mistake, the author started with a wonderful subject and opportunity and squandered it. If you still don't believe me, consider this, in nearly every paragraph the author could help himself by not writing about either his wife or his own experience. This book should be sold as an autobiography on his own life and experiences and mix in a little of Descartes.

I also have a take a quick swipe at the author and the facts he tries to educate the reader on. He claims that Descartes was not interested in the identification with the Knowable. This is simply pure rubbish. Descartes wasn't just interested in identifying he was driven to find the knowable(His search for scantia). If he wasn't interested why then did Descartes write several books based upon his quest? He acknowledges that for the average man, this had little value, however he didn't exactly write for Joe Six-Pack did he? There are many, many other mistakes in this book, this is just the one that peeved me off the most.

In sum - this is a trash novel; the only meat between the pages is pulp, with no nutritional value.

Don't eat the yellow snow, and this book is very yellow.

3.0 out of 5 stars Not much method in this discourse, April 26, 2011

By 

Ralph Blumenau (London United Kingdom) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Cogito, Ergo Sum: The Life of Rene Descartes (Paperback)

This is a jauntily written and idiosyncratic life of Descartes. The Introduction summarizes his importance: "the modern world", Watson writes, "is Cartesian to the core". This is followed by a Prologue which is a rambling and largely irrelevant account of the author's and his wife's stay in Friesland (where Descartes had lived for a while); and such autobiographical diversions are to be found several times in the rest of the book.

While Watson casts healthy doubt on earlier biographies of Descartes, he goes in for a lot of speculation himself - fair enough, when he can't be certain, but less so when his totally unsubstantiated conjecture that, while in the army, Descartes "perhaps even insulted another officer sufficiently to provide grounds for the great excitement of a duel" is merely a peg on which to hang three paragraphs on duelling in 17th century France.

Watson discusses at length whether Descartes was influenced by the Rosicrucians - he believes that he was; and whilst he is convinced that the story of Descartes' famous three dreams is a myth (Descartes refers to that day in a stove-heated room, but makes no mention of the dreams), Watson is fascinated by the various interpretations that other writers have given of these mythical dreams. There are mysteries about Descartes' military service between 1618 and 1620: he originally enlisted in a French regiment put at the disposal of France's ally the Stadtholder of Holland; but he may subsequently have joined the army of France's enemy, the Habsburg Emperor.

Watson is interesting about the last years of Descartes' life, when it seems he suddenly wanted preferment at a court. He had sought it in Paris in 1648, only to flee when the Fronde broke out. When he heard that Queen Christina of Sweden was interested in his books, it was he who first suggested that he would do anything for her - fishing for an invitation which, when it came, he accepted with the mixed feelings of a man who, at 53, was feeling too old for this adventure which, as we know, would in fact kill him.

Watson's most coherent account of Descartes' philosophy is in his 20-page Introduction; for the rest, references to his philosophy are scattered; and Watson is at least as interested in Descartes' mathematics and geometry and in his rancorous rivalry with other mathematicians as he is in the philosophical controversies in which Descartes was engaged. Only in his conclusion does Watson again engage at some length with one part of Descartes' philosophy, and discusses the battle between mentalists (those who think, as Descartes did, that somehow an independent human mind or soul can influence an entirely mechanical body) and the materialists (who believe that all mental processes are really physical ones.) Watson sees this controversy as "the last battle for the human soul"; and at the end he thinks that victory will be with the materialists.

The book is very poorly organized: the Prologue is not the only chapter in which undisciplined rambling prevails (which would have horrified the Descartes who discoursed on method). Chapter 8 is an extreme example of it, in which, incidentally, Watson says, on p.186, that Helena, the unmarried mother of Descartes daughter, possibly died of a fever along with her daughter (i.e. in 1640), while on p.188 he has Descartes paying a dowry to Helena on her marriage in 1644! Did anyone proof-read the book? I am reviewing its second edition, in which some errors on p.160 of the first edition, noted by another reviewer on this site, have been replaced - by further errors, and with the original error being repeated on p. 235.

All that being said, the bibliography runs to 15 pages in small print, and in many instances Watson has examined and reflected upon his sources with the meticulousness of a real scholar. If one is interested in Descartes life rather than in his thought, the book is, with all its irritating faults and errors, worth reading.