Meditations on First Philosophy - Softcover

Descartes, Rene

Softcover

ISBN 10: 9562916170 ISBN 13: 9789562916172

Publisher: BN Publishing, 2008

Synopsis

Here is a brilliant new translation of Descartes's Meditations, one of the most influential books in the history of Western philosophy, including the full texts of the Third and Fourth Objections and Replies, and a selection from the other exchanges. Discovering his own existence as a thinking
entity in the very exercise of doubt--in the famous formulation cogito, ergo sum--Descartes goes on to develop new conceptions of body and mind, capable of serving as foundations for a new science of nature. Subsequent philosophy has grappled with Descartes's ideas, but his arguments set the agenda
for many of the greatest philosophical thinkers, and their fascination endures. This new translation pays particular attention to Descartes's terminology and style, with its elaborate but beautifully lucid syntax, careful balancing, and rhetorical signposting. The wide-ranging introduction places
the work in the intellectual context of the time and discusses the nature of the work, its structure, key issues, and its influence on later thinkers. The book also includes notes, an up-to-date bibliography, a chronology, and an index.

About this title

About the Author

René Descartes (1596 - 1650) was a French philosopher, mathematician, scientist and writer of the Age of Reason. He has been called the "Father of Modern Philosophy", and much of subsequent Western philosophy can be seen as a response to his writings. He is responsible for one of the best-known quotations in philosophy: "Cogito, ergo sum" ("I think, therefore I am"). He was a pioneer and major figure in 17th Century Continental Rationalism (often known as Cartesianism) later advocated by Baruch Spinoza and Gottfried Leibniz, and opposed by the British Empiricist school of thought of Hobbes, Locke, Berkeley and Hume. He represents a major break with the Aristotelianism and Scholasticism of the Medieval period.

Edition details

• Publisher: BN Publishing
• Publication date: 2008
• ISBN 10: 9562916170
• ISBN 13: 9789562916172
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 96