Customer Reviews

Cogito, Ergo Sum: The Life of Rene Descartes

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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).

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.

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.

I really didn't mean to read the whole thing, just gather a few facts. I read the whole book. It was written to be read and enjoyed, and you are given permission to skip some really historic information on family heritage (which would have been boring to any but the most avid Descartes scholar). So....I skipped on a few pages to become entranced again only to find myself at the last page.

When I purchased this book, I was afraid it might be overly academic and a bit "dry" for me (I admit it, I'm mostly a fiction reader). However, I found it to be very engaging. I loved the way the author used personal asides and light humor to make the story more readable, and I also liked the way he used his own travel experiences to add extra "flavor". I'd recommend this book to anyone who'd like to learn about DeCartes, even (more mature)high schoolers.

Scholarly in what it delivers, but delightful in how it delivers what it delivers, COGITO ERGO SUM is highly informative and fun to read. Touching on all the key places, players, and events in the philosopher's life,Watson tells us (at least) as much as we want to know about Descartes as he cuts through the myths that have been passed down to us about him. This meant dissociating his biography from the still-operative hagiographic traditions: the French Catholic apologetic tradition and the scientific apologetic tradition. The result is a skeptical biography, full of distrust toward tradition and authority, written very much in the spirit of methodical doubt practiced by its subject. At the same time, COGITO ERGO SUM is wonderfully readable, humane, engaged, and funny. By destroying the monument called Descartes, Watson has unveiled the man who, it might have been suspected, turns out to be a much more compelling, complex, human, and interesting Descartes than we have known in the past. COGITO ERGO SUM is for specialists, general readers, and just about anyone interested in biography and imaginative prose writing.

Cogito, Ergo Sum: The Life of Rene Descartes is an in-depth biography of the "Father of Modern Philosophy", mathematician and architect Rene Descartes (1596-1650). From his childhood and schooling, to his contributions to science such as the invention of analytic geometry and his methods for testing hypotheses that formed the foundation of experimental science, to his piety as a Christian and much more, Cogito, Ergo Sum closely follows Descartes' life. A biography first and foremost, written for lay readers and scholars alike, Cogito, Ergo Sum brings alive the history of a truly remarkable and forward-thinking man. Highly recommended for biography and library shelves.

Other reviewers have singled out comparatively minor mistakes in Watson's book, and some have complained about the way he injects himself into Descartes's story. But I like the way Watson makes it personal, recounting stories from his travels and laying out his own philosophical attitudes in some punchy prose. I suppose if someone wants a cold retelling of the facts of Descartes's life, another book would be better. But as a long personal essay that aims to explain why the author finds his subject so interesting, I think it's very well done, and a good read.

This is truly a dreadful book.

The author attempts to do something loosely along the lines of Samuel Eliot Morison's "Admiral of the Ocean Sea," a fascinating, though dated, book that combines Morison's knowledge of the sea and sailing with a biography of Columbus. The author of "Cogito Ergo Sum," however, fails entirely.

In Wilson's effort - a very thin volume for a book purporting to be a biography of a major intellectual figure - we read almost as much about Wilson and his wife touring locations in Europe as we do about Descartes. The result is something a little like a poorly written script for one of those old corny school film strips.

Wilson never comes to grips with what makes Descartes great, and the vocabulary he uses - when he isn't saying things like "Gee!" or "Awesome!" - is that tiresome, annoying one typical of American social science academics of the second or third order.

The book actually contains errors regarding the period that even an amateur can spot.

This book is recommended only to be avoided.

In Cogito Ergo Sum, Richard Watson, a distinguished Cartesian scholar and a former professor of philosophy at Washington University in St. Louis, takes us on a grand journey across Europe as he follows in the footsteps of Rene Descartes, the Father of Modern Philosophy.
Descartes's motto was that a life well hidden is a life well lived, but after forty years of extensive research, Watson takes Descartes's well hidden life and reveals it to us as no one else has. From his birth to his death, we learn about the life and times of Descartes. We read of Descartes's skills as a card shark, of his smoking pot, the fathering of his daughter, his romances, his travels, his inventions, his math skills, and all of the good times and bad times that come his way. Watson also debunks many of the long-standing stories associated with Descartes. Even for the casual reader, Watson's clear and colloquial writing style entertains us as if he were Descartes' own friend. And through it all we learn not only about Descartes, but also of Europe as it develops during Descartes's lifetime.
Watson also describes his own amusing adventures as he travels across Europe during his research for this book. In his quest to visit all fourteen of the farms that were owned by the Descates family, Watson and his wife, Patty Jo, test their hiking skills as they tromp through the Alps and along trails with sheer drops of 800 feet. Watson is no stranger to adventure. He is also the author of the classic American cave adventure, The Longest Cave.
Cogito Ergo Sum is one of those books that you enjoy more every time you read it. With this book, Watson has raised the bar for which all other Descartes biographies will be judged.