Descartes - Couverture souple

Sorell, Professor Tom

Couverture souple

ISBN 10 : 019287635X ISBN 13 : 9780192876355

Editeur : Oxford Paperbacks, 1987

Synopsis

Rene Descartes (1596-1650) had a remarkably short working life, and his output was small, yet his contributions to philosophy and science have endured to the present day. He is perhaps best known for his statement `Cogito, ergo sum'. By a mixture of `intuition' and `deduction' Descartes derived from the `cogito' principle first the existence of God and then the existence of a material world. But Descartes did not intend the metaphysics to stand apart from his scientific work, which included important investigations into physics, mathematics, psychology, and optics. In this book Tom Sorell shows that Descartes was, above all, an advocate and practitioner of a new mathematical approach to physics, and that he developed his metaphysics to support his programme in the sciences.

A propos du livre

Présentation de l'éditeur

This latest volume in the Oxford Readings in Philosophy series brings together some of the most influential and stimulating essays on Descartes' philosophy to have appeared in the last fifty years, edited by the renowned Descartes specialist Professor John Cottingham. A lucid introduction by the editor outlines the principle features of Descartes' philosophy and summarizes the main arguments of each chapter. Covering the full range of Descartes' thought, the volume opens with a cluster of central issues in Descartes' metaphysics: systematic doubt, the Cogito, clarity and distinctness, and the Cartesian Circle; followed by chapters on Descartes' theory of the will, and his account of necessity and possibility. Two notorious and interrelated problems in Descartes' system are then dealt with: the distinction between mind and body, and the unity of the human being. There follow chapters on Descartes' account of human nature and the passions, and his treatment of animals; and the volume closes with three chapters on Cartesian science, covering Descartes' views on the relationship between experiment and deduction, his account of scientific explanation, and the notion of causal agency or force in his physics. These broad-ranging and accessible perspectives on Descartes' work will be essential reading for students and specialists.

Biographie de l'auteur

John Cottingham was born in London and educated at Merchant Taylors' School, Northwood, and at St John's College, Oxford University, where he gained Double First Class Honours in Classics and Philosophy; he later took his doctorate in Philosophy at Oxford University. He has held posts at Exeter College, Oxford University and the University of Washington, Seattle, USA, and his visiting appointments have included a Fulbright Scholarship and Visiting Professorship at Randolph Macon Women's College, Virginia USA, and an Erskine Fellowship at the University of Canterbury, New Zealand. He is at present University Professor of Philosophy at the University of Reading . Professor Cottingham is the author of numerous books and articles on seventeenth-century philosophy (with special reference to Descartes) and has given several broadcast talks on Descartes for the BBC; he has also written extensively on ethics and the philosophy of law. He was from 1991-5 Chairman of the British Society for the History of Philosophy, and is (since 1993) editor of Ratio, the international journal of analytical philosophy.

Détails de l'édition

• Éditeur: Oxford Paperbacks
• Date d'édition: 1987
• Langue: anglais
• ISBN 10: 019287635X
• ISBN 13: 9780192876355
• Reliure: Broché
• Nombre de pages: 128
• Coordonnées du fabricant: non disponible
• Personne responsable: Messaggerie Libri; ufficio.anagrafiche@meli.it; ; Via Verdi, 8; Assago Milano; Italie