Descartes' Meditations
Background Source Materials
Published on 28. July 1998
Book
Paperback/Softback
292 pages
978-0-521-48579-1 (ISBN)
Description
No single text could be considered more important in the history of philosophy than Descartes' Meditations. This unique collection of background material to this magisterial philosophical text has been translated from the original French and Latin. The texts gathered here illustrate the kinds of principles, assumptions, and philosophical methods that were commonplace when Descartes was growing up. The selections are from: Francisco Sanches, Christopher Clavius, Pierre de la Ramee (Petrus Ramus), Francisco Suarez, Pierre Charron, Eustachius a Sancto Paulo, Scipion Dupleix, Marin Mersenne, Pierre Gassendi, Jean de Silhon, Francois de la Mothe le Vayer, Charles Sorel, and Jean-Baptiste Morin.
Reviews / Votes
"With its crisp translations, its clear introductions to often obscure primary sources, and its pedagogical concern to link these texts to perennial issues in interpreting the Meditations, this sourcebook should serve as an excellent text in a graduate or honors seminar focused on Descartes." International Philosophical QuarterlyMore details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
Cambridge
United Kingdom
Target group
Professional and scholarly
College/higher education
Product notice
Paperback (trade)
Illustrations
Worked examples or Exercises
Dimensions
Height: 229 mm
Width: 152 mm
Thickness: 17 mm
Weight
478 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-521-48579-1 (9780521485791)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Persons
René Descartes (Renatus Cartesius) was a French philosopher, scientist, and mathematician, widely considered a seminal figure in the emergence of modern philosophy and science.
His best known philosophical statement is ""cogito, ergo sum"" (""I think, therefore I am""; French: Je pense, donc je suis), found in Discourse on the Method (1637; in French and Latin) and Principles of Philosophy (1644, in Latin).
Content
Introduction; 1. That nothing is known Francisco Sanches; 2. The promotion of mathematics Christopher Clavius; 3. Dialectic Petrus Ramus; 4. Metaphysical disputations Francisco Suarez; 5. Wisdom Pierre Charron; 6. A compendium of philosophy in four parts Eustachius a Sancto Paulo; 7. Corpus of philosophy Scipion Dupleix; 8. The use of reason: the impiety of the deists: the truth of the sciences Marin Mersenne; 9. Unorthodox essays against the Aristotelians Pierre Gassendi; 10. The two truths: the immortality of the soul Jean de Silhon; 11. Dialogue on the diversity of religions: little skeptical treatise Francois de La Mothe le Vayer; 12. Universal science Charles Sorel; 13. That God exists Jean-Baptiste Morin; Appendix: condemnations of Cartesianism; Notes; Bibliography; Comparative table of passages from Meditations.