A collection of more than 30 specially commissioned essays, this volume surveys the work of the 17th-century philosopher-scientist commonly regarded as the founder of modern philosophy, while integrating unique essays detailing the context and impact of his work.
Covers the full range of historical and philosophical perspectives on the work of DescartesDiscusses his seminal contributions to our understanding of skepticism, mind-body dualism, self-knowledge, innate ideas, substance, causality, God, and the nature of animalsExplores the philosophical significance of his contributions to mathematics and scienceConcludes with a section on the impact of Descartes's work on subsequent philosophers
Notes on Contributors x
List of Abbreviations xiv
Introduction xv
Part I The Intellectual Context 1
1 Life and Works 3
Stephen Gaukroger
2 Aristotelian Natural Philosophy: Body, Cause, Nature 17
Dennis Des Chene
3 Descartes and Augustine 33
Catherine Wilson
4 Descartes and the Legacy of Ancient Skepticism 52
Casey Perin
Part II Mathematics and Natural Philosophy 67
5 Descartes and Galileo: Copernicanism and the Metaphysical Foundations of Physics 69
Michael Friedman
6 Explanation as Confirmation in Descartess Natural Philosophy 84
Ernan Mcmullin
7 Descartes and Mathematics 103
Paolo Mancosu
8 Descartess Optics: Light, the Eye, and Visual Perception 124
Margaret J. Osler
Part III Epistemology and Metaphysics 143
9 Descartess Method 145
Murray Miles
10 Descartess Use of Doubt 164
David Owens
11 Self-Knowledge 179
Janet Broughton
12 Descartes on True and False Ideas 196
Deborah J. Brown
13 Clear and Distinct Perception 216
Sarah Patterson
14 Causation Without Intelligibility and Causation Without God in Descartes 235
Michael Della Rocca
15 Descartes on Substance 251
Vere Chappell
16 Descartes and the Metaphysics of Extension 271
C. G. Normore
17 The Role of God in Descartess Philosophy 288
John Cottingham
18 The Cartesian Circle and the Foundations of Knowledge 302
John Carriero
19 Cartesian Innateness 319
Alan Nelson
20 Descartes on the Will in Judgment 334
Lex Newman
21 Omnipotence, Modality, and Conceivability 353
Lilli Alanen
22 Descartess Dualism 372
Marleen Rozemond
23 The Union and Interaction of Mind and Body 390
Paul Hoffman
24 Animals 404
Gary Hatfield
25 How to Engineer a Human Being: Passions and Functional Explanation in Descartes 426
Amy M. Schmitter
26 Descartess Ethics 445
Lisa Shapiro
Part IV Descartess Legacy 465
27 Descartess Legacy in the Seventeenth Century: Problems and Polemic 467
Thomas M. Lennon
28 Contemporary Reactions to Descartess Philosophy of Mind 482
Quassim Cassam
29 Descartes and the Phenomenological Tradition 496
Wayne M. Martin
30 Our Debt to Descartes 513
Barry Stroud
Index 526
