Descartes: An Intellectual BiographyClarendon Press, 30.03.1995 - 520 Seiten René Descartes (1596-1650) is the father of modern philosophy, and one of the greatest of all thinkers. This is the first intellectual biography of Descartes in English; it offers a fundamental reassessment of all aspects of his life and work. Stephen Gaukroger, a leading authority on Descartes, traces his intellectual development from childhood, showing the connections between his intellectual and personal life and placing these in the cultural context of seventeenth century Europe. Descartes' early work in mathematics and science produced ground breaking theories, methods, and tools still in use today. This book gives the first full account of how this work informed and influenced the later philosophical studies for which, above all, Descartes is renowned. Not only were philosophy and science intertwined in Descartes' life; so were philosophy and religion. The Church of Rome found Galileo guilty of heresy in 1633; two decades earlier, Copernicus' theories about the universe had been denounced as blasphemous. To avoid such accusations, Descartes clothed his views about the relation between God and humanity, and about the nature of the universe, in a philosophical garb acceptable to the Church. His most famous project was the exploration of the foundations of human knowledge, starting from the proof of one's own existence offered in the formula Cogito ergo sum, `I am thinking therefore I exist'. Stephen Gaukroger argues that this was not intended as an exercise in philosophical scepticism, but rather to provide Descartes' scientific theories, influenced as they were by Copernicus and Galileo, with metaphysical legitimation. This book offers for the first time a full understanding of how Descartes developed his revolutionary ideas. It will be welcomed by all readers interested in the origins of modern thought. |
Inhalt
1 | |
An Education in Propriety 16061618 | 38 |
The Apprenticeship with Beeckman 16181619 | 68 |
Hydrostatics | 84 |
The Search for Method 16191625 | 104 |
The Paris Years 16251628 | 135 |
A New Beginning 16291630 | 187 |
A New System of the World 16301633 | 226 |
The Years of Consolidation 16341640 | 293 |
The Defence of Natural Philosophy 16401644 | 354 |
Melancholia and the Passions 16431650 | 384 |
Notes | 418 |
Biographical Sketches | 471 |
489 | |
Andere Ausgaben - Alle anzeigen
Häufige Begriffe und Wortgruppen
algebraic angle animals argument Aristotelian Aristotle Baillet Beeckman body Cartesian Christianity clear and distinct collège colours concerned context corporeal corpuscles Descartes tells Descartes to Mersenne Dioptrique Discours discovery discussion distinct ideas doctrine early Elizabeth epistemological evidently example existence explain fact Flèche force of motion French Galileo geometrical Géométrie Huygens imagination intellectual Jesuit judgement kind knowledge L'Homme La Flèche later Le Monde letter to Mersenne light Malebranche Marin Mersenne mathematical matter mechanism mechanist Meditationes melancholia metaphysical Météors mind Monde move Mydorge natural philosophy Netherlands objections optics Paris passions perception perceptual cognition physical pineal gland Principia principle problem Pyrrhonism question Quintilian reason refraction Regius Regulae René Descartes Rule scepticism scientific sense seventeenth century simply soul Stoic tendency to motion theory things thought traditional treatise truth understanding Voetius whereas William Shea writings
Verweise auf dieses Buch
The Sociology of Philosophies: A Global Theory of Intellectual Change Randall Collins Eingeschränkte Leseprobe - 2009 |
Descartes' Baby: How the Science of Child Development Explains What Makes Us ... Paul Bloom Eingeschränkte Leseprobe - 2009 |