Ethics

Rene Descartes

ISBN 10: 1647921570 / ISBN 13: 9781647921576

Published by Hackett Publishing Co, Inc, US, 2024

About this Item

Though Descartes never wrote a book specifically devoted to moral philosophy, his thought on ethical matters can be found throughout his correspondence and in parts of his work Passions of the Soul. In 1685, an anonymous editor in London gathered these writings in a textbook devoted to Descartes's ethical thought. Roger Ariew has translated, from Descartes's original French texts, those selections included in the 1685 volume, adding to those writings an Appendix of relevant materials, including Part III of the Discourse on Method on the provisional morals, a portion of the Preface to the French edition of the Principles of Philosophy on the "tree" of philosophy, and portions of additional letters that help to illuminate the background for the correspondence included in the 1685 volume. Ariew's insightful Introduction explains the contexts in which Descartes addressed ethical questions, the reasoning behind his reluctance to write specifically about moral issues, and the significance of what this collection of writings reveals.

Seller Inventory # LU-9781647921576

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Ethics
• Publisher: Hackett Publishing Co, Inc, US
• Publication Date: 2024
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1647921570
• ISBN 13: 9781647921576
• Binding: Paperback
• Condition: New
• Weight: 150 grams

About this title

Synopsis

Though Descartes never wrote a book specifically devoted to moral philosophy, his thought on ethical matters can be found throughout his correspondence and in parts of his work Passions of the Soul. In 1685, an anonymous editor in London gathered these writings in a textbook devoted to Descartes’s ethical thought.
Roger Ariew has translated, from Descartes’s original French texts, those selections included in the 1685 volume, adding to those writings an Appendix of relevant materials, including Part III of the Discourse on Method on the provisional morals, a portion of the Preface to the French edition of the Principles of Philosophy on the “tree” of philosophy, and portions of additional letters that help to illuminate the background for the correspondence included in the 1685 volume.
Ariew’s insightful Introduction explains the contexts in which Descartes addressed ethical questions, the reasoning behind his reluctance to write specifically about moral issues, and the significance of what this collection of writings reveals.

About the Author

Roger Ariew is Professor of Philosophy, University of South Florida.