A Companion to Descartes / Edition 1

by Janet Broughton, John Carriero

Overview

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

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781444337846
Publisher:	Wiley
Publication date:	11/08/2010
Series:	Blackwell Companions to Philosophy , #91
Pages:	560
Product dimensions:	6.70(w) x 9.60(h) x 1.20(d)

About the Author

Janet Broughton is Professor of Philosophy and Dean of Arts and Humanities at the University of California, Berkeley. She is the author of Descartes's Method of Doubt(2002).

John Carriero is Professor of Philosophy at the University of California, Los Angeles. He has published widely in early modern philosophy.

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Table of Contents

Notes on Contributors x

List of Abbreviations xiv

Introduction xv

Part I The Intellectual Context 1

1 Life and Works Stephen Gaukroger 3

2 Aristotelian Natural Philosophy: Body, Cause, Nature Dennis Des Chene 17

3 Descartes and Augustine Catherine Wilson 33

4 Descartes and the Legacy of Ancient Skepticism Casey Perin 52

Part II Mathematics and Natural Philosophy 67

5 Descartes and Galileo: Copernicanism and the Metaphysical Foundations of Physics Michael Friedman 69

6 Explanation as Confirmation in Descartes's Natural Philosophy Ernan Mcmullin 84

7 Descartes and Mathematics Paolo Mancosu 103

8 Descartes's Optics: Light, the Eye, and Visual Perception Margaret J. Osler 124

Part III Epistemology and Metaphysics 143

9 Descartes's Method Murray Miles 145

10 Descartes's Use of Doubt David Owens 164

11 Self-Knowledge Janet Broughton 179

12 Descartes on True and False Ideas Deborah J. Brown 196

13 Clear and Distinct Perception Sarah Patterson 216

14 Causation Without Intelligibility and Causation Without God in Descartes Michael Della Rocca 235

15 Descartes on Substance Vere Chappell 251

16 Descartes and the Metaphysics of Extension C. G. Normore 271

17 The Role of God in Descartes's Philosophy John Cottingham 288

18 The Cartesian Circle and the Foundations of Knowledge John Carriero 302

19 Cartesian Innateness Alan Nelson 319

20 Descartes on the Will in Judgment Lex Newman 334

21 Omnipotence, Modality, and Conceivability Lilli Alanen 353

22 Descartes's Dualism Marleen Rozemond 372

23 The Union and Interaction of Mind and Body Paul Hoffman 390

24 Animals Gary Hatfield 404

25 How to Engineer a Human Being: Passions and Functional Explanation in Descartes Amy M. Schmitter 426

26 Descartes's Ethics Lisa Shapiro 445

Part IV Descartes's Legacy 465

27 Descartes's Legacy in the Seventeenth Century: Problems and Polemic Thomas M. Lennon 467

28 Contemporary Reactions to Descartes's Philosophy of Mind Quassim Cassam 482

29 Descartes and the Phenomenological Tradition Wayne M. Martin 496

30 Our Debt to Descartes Barry Stroud 513

Index 526

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From the Publisher

"Good companions fulfil two more duties - they provide better ways of understanding the familiar and they also defamiliarise it by encouraging new slants and alerting us to relatively ignored issues: this companion does both.... A most attractive and wide-ranging addition to its field." (Reference Reviews, Issue 6 2008)

Editorial Reviews

"Good companions fulfil two more duties - they provide better ways of understanding the familiar and they also defamiliarise it by encouraging new slants and alerting us to relatively ignored issues: this companion does both.... A most attractive and wide-ranging addition to its field." (Reference Reviews, Issue 6 2008)

From the Publisher