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Between Two Worlds
John Carriero's book offers an interesting take on The Meditations.The traditional interpretations have focused on epistemology and skepticism, these interpretations usually focus on the revolutionary nature of Descartes work.Carriero focuses on Descartes reaction to the scholastic tradition.It is a refreshing. ... Read more

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Rene Descartes is arguably the most important seventeenth-century thinker and the father of modern philosophy. His seminal works are widely studied by students of philosophy. Yet his unique method and its divergence from the method of his scholastic predecessors and contemporaries raises complex and often challenging issues."Descartes: A Guide for the Perplexed" is a clear and thorough account of Descartes' philosophy, his major works and ideas, providing an ideal guide to the important and complex thought of this key philosopher. The book covers the whole range of Descartes' philosophical work, offering a thematic review of his thought, together with detailed examination of the texts commonly encountered by students, including the "Discourse on Method and Meditations on First Philosophy". Geared towards the specific requirements of students who need to reach a sound understanding of Descartes' thought, the book provides a cogent and reliable survey of the philosophical trends and influences apparent in his thought. This is the ideal companion to the study of this most influential and challenging of philosophers.Continuum's "Guides for the Perplexed" are clear, concise and accessible introductions to thinkers, writers and subjects that students and readers can find especially challenging - or indeed downright bewildering.Concentrating specifically on what it is that makes the subject difficult to grasp, these books explain and explore key themes and ideas, guiding the reader towards a thorough understanding of demanding material. ... Read more

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Descartes' Discourse marks a watershed in Europeanthought; in it, the author sets out in brief his radicalnew philosophy, which begins with a proof of theexistence of the self (the famous "cogito ergo sum").Next he deduces from it the existence and nature of God,and ends by offering a radical new account of thephysical world and of human and animal nature.Writtenin everyday language and meant to be read by commonpeople of the day, it swept away all previousphilosophical traditions.This new translation is an ideal introduction toDescartes for the general reader. It is accompanied by asubstantial introductory essay from Renaissance scholarIan Maclean that is designed to provide in-depthhistorical and philosophical context. The essay draws onDescartes' correspondence to examine what brought him towrite his great work, and the impact it had on hiscontemporaries.A detailed section of notes explainDescartes' philosophical terminology and ideas, as wellas historical references and allusions. Any reader canfeel comfortable diving in to this classic work ofRenaissance philosophical thought. ... Read more

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Published in 1998 as DESCARTES FOR BEGINNERS and now in the INTRODUCING.series, the authors explain the basis for Descartes' philosophical doubtings, offer an accessible guide to the puzzling questions he asked about humans and their place in the world and detail his contributions to modern science and mathematics. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (6)

More than you cared to know about the "I think therefore I am" guy
It's an easy going read and quite informative, but I felt they stretched it a bit to make a full book out of his work.Could have been half the length, I think.

Cogito ergo Sum - I think therefore I am
Descartes is responsible for discovering a series of explanations for the Cogito. Descartes is mainly good at asking the right questions, getting the maths right, but his philosophies are a series of stepping stones that although quite forgotten today were useful tools for the dawn of scientific theory. For this reason Descartes is best taken with `Introduction to Newton and classical physics' for the pre-Newton physics thoughts, although it works well enough as a standalone. This is also the era of pre-psychoanalysis at the basic level.

Descartes, a Frenchman, was sickly as a child and was allowed to stay in bed until early afternoon. He learned Greek and Latin and music. He spent his teens and early 20s in the army. In the winter of 1619 he was snowed in and spent the months just thinking to himself in his room about the mind. He had a number of what he believed were prophetical dreams, moved to Holland, rejected that theism could explain the mind (although he believed in a God), got interested in Galileo's experiments, and decided to experiment on the mind.

Core criteria:

Reduction in mathematics
Rejecting final cause
Clear ideas in a cleared mind
The modes of wax
Rationalists and empiricists
Scepticism
Consequences and death
Cartesian doubt
Dreams
Rationalists and reason
Invisible demons and the God filter
Impossibility of private language
Cogito ergo Sum - I think therefore I am
Ontological argument
Meditations on perception
Mathematics
Formalists
Res Extensa
Vivisections
Cartesian dualism
Language
Brains
The mind body problem
Consciousness
Behaviourists
Physicalists
Computers
Ethics
The thinking individual
Postmodernism

This is a great part of the history of psychology and physics. The only problem is that it is missing a better reference with evolution which would help explain many of the problems we are left with. This is part of what happens when you read Descartes because it is part of the historical record and has since been improved upon by Newton in physics and Fraud in psychology.

you'd think people know how this series works by now
This is a perfect read for the layman who maybe doesn't have long periods of time to devote to reading who has the desire to learn about the father of modern philosophy and its problem of consciousness. I easily completed this book within one afternoon. Though it has a typical amount of pages, the comic-like format turns the read into a swift breeze filled with humor and creativity. It begins with explaining why Descartes is the father of modern philosophy, namely that he thought for himself (in a departure from Scholasticism). Though he retained Christian belief throughout his life, he was a very rational and mathematically minded person in the field of science that he managed to keep secular in practice, though it would ultimately be verified on God the Geometer's grounds. Aside from his biography, this Cartesian exordium lays out the philosophy of mind and all of the perspectives on it. (dual aspect monism, occasionalism, epiphenomenalism, materialism, functionalism, behaviourism, cognitivism and pyschophysical parallelism--for some more recent takes on the ghost in the machine I recommend Colin Mcginn's "The Mysterious Flame") Inevitably these talks bring up the issue of artificial intelligence and conscious automata.
Obviously like any other book in the "Introducing" series this book is simple, general, and fun, but at the same time comprehensive and a great starting point.

Immensely Disappointing
I fail to understand the purpose of this book. My intent for this purchase was to get an introduction to Descarte's philosophy. To my utter disappointment, i found this book lacking any materials to this regards. The illustrations i found rather childish and annoying. There is no mention of Descarte's philosophy or any other subject that can add value or interest to a serious reader. I am extremely disappointed with this book, every page has an unnecessary illustration, these illustrations have no relevance to the subject. If the illustrations were removed the entire book can fit in 3 pages.

Introducing Descartes: an invitation into thought
Perhaps one of the largest criticism of the entire series of these books is the lack of depth. I find this a strength. Already fairly familiar with Descartes I found this book to cover a broad scope of theories related to Descartes'. Admittedly there are points where depth could be needed. I think though that the people that complain about depth, are the same people who need to be spoon-fed how to think. I found that the work, made me ponder about some of the issues put forth by it. So if you want to be spoon-fed opinion, and then consider yourself an "intellectual." Then by all means avoid this book, and find something more detailed. However if you feel you are capable of deeper INDEPENDANT thought, but simply need a starting point, this is a must have. ... Read more

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In Descartes' Meditations: A Reader's Guide, Richard Francks offers a clear and thorough account of this key philosophical work. The book offers a detailed review of the key themes and a lucid commentary that will enable readers to rapidly navigate the text. Geared towards the specific requirements of students who need to reach a sound understanding of the text as a whole, the guide explores the complex and important ideas inherent in the text and provides a cogent survey of the reception and influence of Descartes' seminal work. ... Read more

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Descartes' Meditations is one of the most widely read philosophical texts and has marked the beginning of what we now consider as modern philosophy. It is the first text that most students of philosophy are introduced to and this guidebook will be an indispensable introduction to what is undeniably one of the most important texts in the history of philosophy. Gary Hatfield offers a clear and concise introduction to Descartes' background, a careful reading of the Meditations and a methodological investigation of its main themes. As with all the Guidebooks , this is an exemplary companion to any reading of the Meditations. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Superb exigesis of the Meditations
This is the third of these Routledge Guidebooks that I've purchased, and they have all been extremely good. Hatfield has written extensively on Descartes and knows his work inside and out.He also provides the background and context that show what Descartes was up to, and what was at issue in those days that drove his agenda.Long story short, he was out to overthrow Aristotle in the interest of improving empirical science, not to establish some world-denying skepticism.The Meditations are an attempt to first wipe the slate of what we think we know and then, by the end of the 6th Meditation, to have trained the reader in an entirely new way of thinking about the world.The Meditations are a narrative meant to gradually bring you along on that project, which was a tricky and even dangerous one for Descartes, because Aristotle was the Church's intellectual saint.

If you haven't read the Meditations before, or only long ago, I recommend reading Hatfield's treatment of each one first.If you read Descartes first, you are likely to find that Hatfield has added so much to your understanding that you'll be going back for a second read, anyway.I haven't read any other full-length expositions of the Meditations, but I can't imagine how anyone could do a better job than Hatfield has done here.

Good Commentary, Bad Binding
This is an excellent introduction to Descartes' Meditations.Throughout the commentary, Hatfield presents and considers alternative interpretations to reading one of Descartes' seminal works.He also illuminates the background in which the text was written - Descartes' philosophical and scientific influences, as well as considering political circumstances at the time.Regardless, this book only receives 4 stars, but not for any reason on Hatfield's part or the content.The 4 stars is based on, what another reviewer said, the horrible binding of the book.Fortunately, my spine is still intact, but it is surely in poor condition (and I take great care of my books).They definitely could have done better with the binding.

comprehensive intro
This is a first rate introduction, not just to the "Meditations," but to Descartes work as a whole. Hatfield situates Descartes' most famous text in relation to his other works, arguing that the "Meditations" is most profitably read as a work on the foundations of physics. His Descartes is a "mathematician and natural philosopher" before he is a metaphysician or epistemologist. Hatfield offers illuminating discussions of the scientific and philosophical context in which Descartes wrote, stressing his contributions to both physics and metaphysics. We get a good account of the scholastic doctrines against which Descartes reacted. The "Meditations" emerges as a work on the "first principles" of our knowledge of god, the mind, and the natural world. Hatfield thus downplays the epistemolgoical side of Descartes' work, shifting the focus away from skepticism and concerns about the limits of knowledge. He also does a good job explaining how the literary form of the work contributes to its overall aims, clarifying the significance of the "meditative" first-person narrative and the "analytic" method it's designed to exemplify. The book concludes with a helpful, if brief, account of the Cartesian legacy. In general, the book presents a heavily contextualized reading of the "Meditations," one that will surely surprise readers familar only with the standard picture of Descartes and his work. Despite the emphasis on contexts unfamilar to most, readers will find this book very accessible. It's organized well, and Hatfield handles the techinical terminology adroitly, explaining things patiently, while, at the same time, avoiding a burdensome amount of detail. (I have only one complaint: the paper back edition is not put together very well. It's stiff as a board, and the spine cracked as soon as I got going. So I don't expect it to last very long.) ... Read more

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Rene Descartes' Meditations on First Philosophy In Focus contains the excellent and popular Elizabeth S. Haldane and G.R.T. Ross translation of Rene Descartes' Meditations on First Philosophy. It also contains a portion of the Replies to Objections II, in which Descartes discusses how the method employed in the Meditations, which he calls ``analysis,'' differs from the method of ``synthesis'' employed by the geometer.

In his introduction, Stanley Tweyman provides a fresh and detailed discussion of the relationship between Descartes' Rules for the Direction of the Mind and the method of ``analysis,'' and their applications to the Meditations. The six critical papers drawn together in this book present a broad and exegetical commentary on the Meditations and give an indication of the diversity of scholarly opinion which exists on the topic of method in Descartes' philosophy. An extensive bibliography is also included. ... Read more

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This collection explores Descartes work. Five principles were used to select the articles: the convergence of history of science and history of philosophy; different views considering his work; Descartes in relevant intellectual history; and literature used by teachers and students. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Not the Descartes of the philosophy text- book
This work does not approach Descartes in the usual way: i.e. by showing his place in the Western philosophical tradition, and especially showing how the modern age in Thought began with his cogito. It tries instead to give a more complete picture of Descartes interests and activities, with focus on his mathematical physics, and scientific work. There is also a brief telling of the life of Descarteswho Sorrell believes was less isolated than he is usually made out to be. There is one painful detail. Descartes said that the greatest sorrow of his life was the loss when she was only five of his out-of- wedlock daughter. Descartes religious faith is also discussed. The suggestion however is that of all his work it is the famous 'I think therefore I am' which is most responsible for his continuing fame.

An excellent book to get to know Descartes
It is a really easy-to-read book.People who just start to be interested in Philosophy will not find this book intimadating or overwhelming.The author also points out and explains the "errors" of Descartes'sthinking.An excellent book to be added to your collection. ... Read more

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Provides insight
I read this book over 20 yrs. ago, recommended by a friend who's a first rate mathematician, J. Palmore. I recall 2 things. First, that 'fairness' is not uniquely defined. Nice examples are given. Second, the 5 methods of mathematical proof: (i) proof by reference to the literature, (ii) proof by intimidation ("It's obvious!"), etc. Also recommended: to read in Descartes' memoirs the description of how he came on the idea to invent analytic geometry and derivatives of simple curves.

Interview with Charles M. Strauss
My favorite part of this book was the interview with CS.As a programmer, it was gratifying to read such a sensible articulation of the profession.

Interesting , but doesn't add up to a unified whole
THIS IS A well-intentioned but hardly satisfying book. From various angles it shows the increasing mathematization of our lives - but more importantly it questions the wisdom of placing our faith in this type of orderly, rationalized world.

We have become more mathematically inclined than you probably realize. It has become a given that those fields having a solid mathematical underpinning (e.g. physics and chemistry) have more validity than those that don't (e.g. psychology and sociology). The implications of this belief stretch far and wide. Mathematics has now reached into everything from biology, medicine, astrophysics, and economics to linguistics, musical composition, choreography, and art. The more math a field employs, it is believed, the more valid it must be.

The belief that guides much of modern society is that anything in the physical world can become the subject of a mathematical theory. This was French philosopher Rene Descartes' dream. In 1637 he published his revolutionary "Discourse on Method" which was a methodology for science based on the deductive logic of mathematical reasoning. This meant that since one plus one equals two, and this is a truth that cannot be challenged, then anything that can be put into a mathematical framework would also be true. This view also leads to the belief (as it did for Descartes) that animals - and perhaps humans - are merely complex machines; after all, life itself exists in the physical world.

But where does one draw the line? Certainly some things must be kept outside of the mathematical/computerized realm. Hopefully, emotions, attitudes, literature and the like will never make a successful transition into a computer program.

The authors attempt to create a "heightened awareness of the relationship between humans and the mathematics they have created!" An awareness, they say, "is necessary to shield us from the effects of the revolutionary waves of symbols that are about to wash over us."

However, the approach the authors take in developing this idea is less than satisfying. It pokes and jabs at various aspects of our math-inflicted society but the ideas do not always flow easily into the central theme. This is due to the book's construction, a loosely compiled collection of articles, addresses and taped interviews. Indeed, the authors suggest that readers should "browse at random and read whatever catches their fancy." At 306 pages, it's a good idea; but the result of this, however, is a book that has many interesting parts that often do not add up to any sort of unified whole.

Some of the essays lure you in with an interesting premise but then drown you in page after page of difficult math. By the time you've gotten to the end of the essay you've really forgotten what the point was or where it fits in with the rest of the book.
The message of this volume - that we "are being mathematized at an increasing rate ... and it may not be good for us" - is one that more people should hear.

surprisingly flimsy
This book is supposed to cover how math is applied to real world problems, or at least that is what I expected when I got it.Alas, while it tries to address this agenda, there is very little of substance here beyond some rather simplistic assertions of how and why this was done.Sure, math has creeped into most academic disciplines, from hard to social sciences, but that doesn't mean it shouldn't be questioned, which the authors fail to do.As such, what you get is a series of exmaples, none of which I can even remember, some assertions of philosophical relevance, and then not much more than simple convenstional views.

For example, even the title attests to the authors' superficial treatment:Descartes is portrayed as the source of much of the revolution of the physical and other sciences, folllowing his "vision" of unifying the sciences while lieing in an oven to keep warm.Well, I think even that view can be challenged:many scientists I know, while acknowledging his contribution to math with coordinate geometry, would argue that Descartes philosophical writings in fact had little impact on the direction of science - one even told me that it was the French intelligensia that hoped to claim responsibility for the sci revolution then underway.(In this view, the real hero would be Newton.)THe authors' probe none of that.Nor do they question the usefulness of what I see as an overapplication of math to many disciplines, such as political science and even economics in some cases, which may be revealed as little more than academic fashions in the future.

That makes this book the conventional view, over lightly.Not recommended.Mathematicians may like it, but critics of math will not. ... Read more

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This Book Is In French. ... Read more

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I will now close my eyes, I will stop my ears, I will turn away my senses from their objects, I will even efface from my consciousness all the images of corporeal things; or at least, because this can hardly be accomplished, I will consider them as empty and false; and thus, holding converse only with myself, and closely examining my nature, I will endeavor to obtain by degrees a more intimate and familiar knowledge of myself. I am a thinking (conscious) thing... although the things which I perceive or imagine are perhaps nothing at all apart from me, I am nevertheless assured that those modes of consciousness which I call perceptions and imaginations, in as far only as they are modes of consciousness, exist in me.-from Meditation III: "Of God: That He Exists"Sometimes called the father of modern philosophy, French mathematician, scientist, and writer RENE DESCARTES (1596-1650) continues to have a deeply profound impact on our modern world. His thinking on how the mind works and what is it capable of has profoundly impacted our understanding of ourselves-he summed up his philosophy with the phrase "I think, therefore I am," which still thrills us-and his influence extends to our own experiments with modern computing and artificial intelligence.This concise discourse on doubt and the nature of truth was written in Latin and first published in 1641 with the subtitle In which the existence of God and the immortality of the soul are demonstrated. Here, Descartes considers:• Those Things That Can Be Called into Doubt• The Nature of the Human Mind: That It Is Better Known Than the Body• God, That He Exists• The True and the False• The Essence of Material Things• The Existence of Material Things, and the Real Distinction between Mind and BodyScottish poet, philosopher, and historian JOHN VEITCH (1829-1894) translated Meditations into English in 1852-this is a replica of the 1901 edition. ... Read more

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The traditional account of mind/body union attributed to Descartes supposes that the immaterial, thinking mind and the material, non-thinking body interact by means of efficient causation - that the mind causes events in the body, e.g. the voluntary raising of an arm, and vice versa, e.g. the visual sensation of a tree. But this gives rise to a notorious philosophical problem: how can this causal interaction occur between the spiritual mind and the physical body since they have absolutely nothing in common and cannot come into contact with one another? Justin Skirry's book shows how Descartes in fact avoids this enormous problem. Skirry argues, through a critical re-examination of Cartesian metaphysics, that the union of mind and body is not, as most scholars have always maintained, constituted by efficient causal interaction for Descartes, because this would result not in one, complete human nature but in an aggregate of two numerically distinct natures. Descartes argues in the 6th Meditation and elsewhere that mind/body union is constituted by what the scholastics called a 'substantial union', i.e. the union that form (mind) has with matter (body).This substantial union produces a whole that is more than the sum of its parts; the capacity for modes of sensation and voluntary bodily movement are emergent properties of the whole, substantially united mind and body. Therefore, the 'Cartesian' problem of mind-body efficient causal interaction is avoided altogether, since efficient causal occurrences between mind and body play no role in explaining the existence of these modes. ... Read more

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This book is by far Descartes’ most popular work where he explicitly discusses complex and grave issues of philosophy. It had a great impact on modern European philosophical thought. It vividly expresses the author’s views on reason, ultimate truth and science. The book is written in simple, pragmatic and persuasive manner which makes it interesting for ordinary man.

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This is an EXACT reproduction of a book published before 1923. This IS NOT an OCR'd book with strange characters, introduced typographical errors, and jumbled words.This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book. ... Read more

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A collection of more than 30 specially commissioned essays, this volume surveys the work of the 17th-century philosopher-scientist commonly regarded as the founder of modern philosophy, while integrating unique essays detailing the context and impact of his work.

• Covers the full range of historical and philosophical perspectives on the work of Descartes
• Discusses his seminal contributions to our understanding of skepticism, mind-body dualism, self-knowledge, innate ideas, substance, causality, God, and the nature of animals
• Explores the philosophical significance of his contributions to mathematics and science
• Concludes with a section on the impact of Descartes's work on subsequent philosophers

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