Descartes
eBook - PDF

Descartes

  1. 404 pages
  2. English
  3. PDF
  4. Available on iOS & Android
eBook - PDF

Descartes

Book details
Table of contents
Citations

About This Book

RenĂ© Descartes (1596–1650) is well-known for his introspective turn away from sensible bodies and toward non-sensory ideas of mind, body, and God. Such a turn is appropriate, Descartes supposes, but only once in the course of life, and only to arrive at a more accurate picture of reality that we then incorporate in everyday embodied life.

In this clear and engaging book David Cunning introduces and examines the full range of Descartes' philosophy. A central focus of the book is Descartes' view that embodied human beings become more perfect to the degree that they move in the direction of finite approximations of independence, activity, immutability, and increased knowledge. Beginning with an introduction and a chapter on Descartes' life and works, Cunning also addresses the following key topics:

  • Descartes on the wonders of the material universe
  • skepticism as epistemic garbage, and the easy dissolution of hyperbolic doubt
  • Descartes' three arguments for the existence of God
  • the ontology of possibility and necessity
  • freedom and embodiment
  • arguments for the immateriality of mind
  • sensible bodies and the pragmatic certainty by which to navigate them
  • Descartes' stoic view on how best to live.



Descartes is an outstanding introduction to one of the greatest of Western philosophers. Including a chronology, suggestions for further reading, and a glossary of key terms, it is essential reading for anyone studying Descartes and the history of modern philosophy.

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Information

Publisher
Routledge
Year
2023
ISBN
9781351210515
Edition
1
Topic
Philosophy
Subtopic
Philosophy History & Theory

Table of contents

  1. Cover
  2. Half Title
  3. Series Page
  4. Title Page
  5. Copyright Page
  6. Table of Contents
  7. Acknowledgments
  8. Chronology
  9. One: Introduction: the Very big Picture
  10. Two: Life and Works
  11. Three: The Limits of Our Metaphysical Tether
  12. Four: Skepticism
  13. Five: Arguments for the Existence of God
  14. Six: Human Freedom
  15. Seven: Immaterial Minds
  16. Eight: External Bodies and Sufficient Certainty for Application to Ordinary Life
  17. Nine: How Best to Live
  18. Ten: Conclusion
  19. Glossary
  20. Bibliography
  21. Index