Descartes' "Rules for the Direction of the Mind"

Taken from the manuscripts of Joachim's lectures on the "Regulae" of Descartes, this volume was reconstructed after his death from notes taken by his pupils Errol Harris and John Austin. A critical examination of the main rules for the direction of the mind and the expositions by which Descartes explains them, the work contains commentary on the topics of: the power of knowing; the nature of intellect; Descartes's method of analysis and synthesis; and the notion of "vera mathesis". Joachim then goes on to criticize Descartes's method and to expound his own doctrine of philosophical analysis. The last chapter offers his own organic unities in opposition to the Cartesian complex natures. This volume provides material both as a critical commentary on the Rules and for its criticism of philosophical method.