Short description:

Descartes? work is central to all areas of philosophy, including epistemology, metaphysics, philosophy of mind, philosophy of science, and ethics. As such The Cartesian Mind is essential reading and an indispensable tool for all students and researchers in the discipline.

Long description:

Descartes is widely acknowledged as a central figure in the origins of modernity. The nature of his thought and of the role it played is, however, a matter of considerable dispute among experts. The Cartesian Mind is a significant contribution to this debate. It covers the full extent of his work, not only placing it in its historical context but also exploring its reception, legacy, and contemporary significance.

Comprising over forty chapters by an international team of distinguished scholars, the collection is divided into three parts:

• Historical Context


• Philosophical Themes


• Reception and Influence.

Within these sections, key topics are addressed, including Descartes? life and works, Platonism, Scholasticism, Stoicism, skepticism, atomism, meditation, method, the self, God, will and freedom, mind and body, biology and medicine, causation, mathematics, the natural sciences, philosophy of science, ethics, and the origins of idealism. Descartes?s reception and legacy within science and philosophy from the seventeenth century to our days, including current analytic and continental traditions, as well as within the broader contemporary culture, also receive sustained attention.

Descartes? work is central to all areas of philosophy, including epistemology, metaphysics, philosophy of mind, philosophy of science, and ethics. As such The Cartesian Mind is essential reading and an indispensable tool for all students and researchers in the discipline.

Table of Contents:

Notes on Contributors  Abbreviations and Conventions  Acknowledgements  Introduction: Cartesian Studies and the Janus-faced Philosopher Jorge Secada and Travis Tanner  Part 1: Historical Context  1. Descartes?s Life and Works Desmond Clarke  2. The Platonic Tradition Jonathan Hill  3. The Scholastic and Meditational Traditions Jorge Secada  4. The Skeptical Tradition Henrik Lagerlund  5. Descartes and the Atomists Andrew Pyle  6. Descartes and the Stoics John Marshall  Part 2: Philosophical Themes  7. Descartes? Method Tarek Dika and Denis Kambouchner  8. Descartes? Cogito Stephen I. Wagner  9. The Nature of the Self Lilli Alanen  10. How Well do Cartesian Minds Know Themselves? Lex Newman  11. Descartes on Ideas Kurt Smith  12. Sensibility and Intellect in Descartes Tom Vinci  13. Material Falsity Cecilia Wee  14. Descartes?s Concept of God Catherine Wilson  15. Descartes on Will and Judgment Noa Naaman-Zauderer  16. Descartes? Distinctive Conception of Freedom Andrea Christofidou  17. Simple Natures and Eternal Truths David Cunning  18. Substance in Descartes Justin Skirry  19. Body Edward Slowik  20. Descartes on the real distinction between mind and body Katherine J. Morris  21. Causation Walter Ott  22. Descartes on Formal Causation Travis Tanner  23. Mathematics and Geometry Judith V. Grabiner  24. The Nature and Method of Physics and Natural Sciences Helen Hattab  25. Descartes, Metaphysics and the Philosophy of Science Celia Wolf-Devine  26. The Meaning of ?Life? in Descartes? Natural Philosophy Deborah Brown  27. Cartesian Biology and Medicine Gideon Manning  28. Spontaneous Volition and Passionate Reasons Amy Schmitter  29. Descartes?s Ethics Patrick Frierson  Part 3: Reception and Influence  30. Cartesians and Anti-Cartesians in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries Tad Schmaltz  31. Descartes and the Newtonians Sarah Hutton  32. The Rationalist Reception of Descartes Alan Nelson and Noa Shein  33. Descartes and Berkeley or the Cartesian Origins of Idealism Jorge Secada  34. Into and out of Cartesianism within German Idealism Terry Pinkard  35. Figures of Descartes in Nineteenth-Century France Delphine Antoine-Mahut  36. Husserl revisiting Descartes Rosemary Rizo Patrón de Lerner  37. Anscombe?s Intention James Doyle  38. Cartesian Legacies in Contemporary Epistemology and Philosophy of Mind Harold Langsam  39. Descartes and the Philosophy of Mind Lawrence Nolan  40. Cartesian Certainty, Realism and Scientific Inference Manuel Barrantes  41. Descartes and Modern and Contemporary Theology Aza Goudriaan  42. Descartes in Contemporary Culture Diana Cortez Buitrón (with Jorge Secada).  Index