How to Read Descartes - Softcover

Cottingham, John

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1847080049 ISBN 13: 9781847080042

Publisher: Granta Books, 2009

Synopsis

Revered as the "father of modern philosophy" Descartes is one of the most influential philosophers of all time, but his ideas are also highly controversial and have been subjected to intense criticism by present-day philosophers. John Cottingham examines Descartes’s remarkable attempt to construct a new basis for scientific understanding, his famous first principle "I am thinking, therefore I exist," and his notorious and often misunderstood account of the relation between mind and body. He also tackles fascinating and lesser-known aspects of Descartes’s philosophy, including his views on language, human and animal nature, the role of the emotions in the good life, and the place of God in science and ethics. Extracts are taken from the whole range of Descartes’s writings, including the Discourse on the Method, Meditations on First Philosophy, Principles of Philosophy, and his last book, Passions of the Soul, as well as extracts from his philosophical letters.

About this title

About the Author:

John Cottingham is the translator of the standard English edition of The Philosophical Writings of Descartes and his many publications on early modern philosophy include Cambridge Companion to Descartes, Descartes, On the Meaning of Life, Philosophy and the Good Life, and The Rationalists.

About this edition

• Publisher: Granta Books
• Publication date: 2009
• ISBN 10: 1847080049
• ISBN 13: 9781847080042
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 102