Meditations on First Philosophy / Meditationes de prima philosophia: A Bilingual Edition (English and Latin Edition) [Paperback]

Rene Descartes (Author), George Heffernan (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 31, 1990 | ISBN-10: 0268013810 | ISBN-13: 978-0268013813 | Edition: 1

Meditations on First Philosophy written by legendary philosopher Rene Descartes is widely considered to be one of the top philosophical books of all time. This great classic will surely attract a whole new generation of readers. For many, Meditations on First Philosophy is required reading for various courses and curriculums. And for others who simply enjoy reading timeless pieces of classic philosophical literature, this gem by Rene Descartes is highly recommended. Published by Classic Books America and beautifully produced, Meditations on First Philosophy would make an ideal gift and it should be a part of everyone's personal library.

--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"By far the best available English translation of the fundamental philosophical text." www.wordtrade.com/philosophy1 --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Language Notes

Text: English, Latin (translation)
Original Language: Latin --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 251 pages
• Publisher: University of Notre Dame Press; 1 edition (August 31, 1990)
• Language: English, Latin
• ISBN-10: 0268013810
• ISBN-13: 978-0268013813
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.5 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #720,541 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Good source for the Latin, May 21, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: Meditations on First Philosophy / Meditationes de prima philosophia: A Bilingual Edition (English and Latin Edition) (Paperback)

It is helpful to have an inexpensive edition of the Latin Meditations. The painfully literal English "translation" that accompanies it in this volume may serve as a handy vocabulary crib, but by itself is unreadable-- although generally reliable. Curiously, even the translator's own introduction does not reveal a more comfortable writing style: sentences grow into paragraphs, and paragraphs swell into pages. Parenthetical expressions are occasionally embedded three-deep, and the subject matter vacillates between textual trivia and attempts at profundity.

Unusable as an undergraduate text, but thanks for the Latin!

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Be careful!, September 19, 2008

By 

Philosophy Prof. (Collegetown, NJ) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Meditations on First Philosophy (English and French Edition) (Hardcover)

Be Careful! This is NOT the translation described in the Amazon reviews. It is a the unreadable one by Heffernan. This edition is useful only for its Latin text. The facing English can be used as an aid to the reader, but is often so stiff and convoluted as to be unreadable as English. The fifty-page introduction is full of trivia and misinterpretations. The volume is quite justifiably out of print!

3 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Exactly what a serious student of Cartesian thought needs, January 28, 2006

By 

Joyce Tan Chen Lin - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Meditations on First Philosophy / Meditationes de prima philosophia: A Bilingual Edition (English and Latin Edition) (Paperback)

Contrary to what the previous reviewer claims, Heffernan's translation is one of the best available if the benchmark for one's choosing of a translation is that of faithfulness to the original text. Other translation available oversimplifies Descartes' sentence for the sake of elegance. But one should always remember that beauty in any philosophical text comes not from the words itself, but from the ordering and structure of the words and ideas (Descartes himself emphasised a similar point).

True, Heffernan is committing comercial suicide by adhering so closely to the original text in order to produce a literal translation, but this translation is exactly what a serious student of Cartesian thought needs. Of course, such accuracy is (unfortunately for Heffernan) not required for most students of philosophy.