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Descartes's Meditations

Critical Essays

Edited by Vere Chappell - Contributions by John P. Carriero; Peter J. Markie; Stephen Schiffer; Robert Delahunty; Frederick J. O'Toole; David M. Rosenthal; Fred Feldman; Anthony Kenny; Margaret D. Wilson; John Cottingham and Jonathan Bennett

This collection of recent articles by leading scholars is designed to illuminate one of the greatest and most influential philosophical books of all time. It includes incisive commentary on every major theme and argument in the Meditations, and will be valuable not only to philosophers but to historians, theologians, literary scholars, and interested general readers.

Ideal for courses on the history of philosophy and those centered on Descartes specifically , this collection of recent articles by leading scholars is designed to illuminate for students one of the greatest and most influential philosophical books of all time. It includes incisive commentary on every major theme and argument in Meditations.
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Rowman & Littlefield Publishers
Pages: 256 • Trim: 6 x 9⅜
978-0-8476-8486-1 • Hardback • August 1997 • $140.00 • (£108.00)
978-0-8476-8487-8 • Paperback • August 1997 • $50.00 • (£38.00)
Series: Critical Essays on the Classics Series
Subjects: Philosophy / History & Surveys / General
Vere Chappell is professor of philosophy at the University of Massachusetts. He is editor and co-author of the Cambridge Companion to Locke, and the co-author of Twenty-Five Years of Descartes Scholarship.
Chapter 1 Acknowledgements
Chapter 2 Note on the Reference
Chapter 3 Introduction
Chapter 4 The First Meditation
Chapter 5 The Cogito and Its Importance
Chapter 6 Descartes on His Essence
Chapter 7 Descartes' Cosmological Argument
Chapter 8 Descartes' Problematic Casual Principle of Ideas
Chapter 9 Will and the Theory of Judgment
Chapter 10 Epistemic Appraisal and the Cartesian Circle
Chapter 11 Descartes' Ontological Argument
Chapter 12 Descartes: The Epistemological Argument for Mind-Body Distinctness
Chapter 13 Descartes' Sixth Meditation: The External World, 'Nature' and Human Nature
Chapter 14 Truth and Stability in Descartes' Meditations
Chapter 15 References
Chapter 16 Bibliography
Chapter 17 Index of Passages
Chapter 18 About the Authors
Provides an excellent introduction. . . . This book will be as useful to beginners as to seasoned academics because it brings together eleven articles that are both clear and profound. . . . The organization of the book is both simple and efficient, and the brief introduction and the bibliography are well done.
— J. M. Beyssade, Sorbonne, University of Paris


This book is a collection of eleven terrific essays that represent a span of nearly thirty years of Descartes scholarship. The book clearly will not only benefit the professional researcher, but it will be of great value to undergraduate and graduate philosophy students interested in Descartes's work.
— Review of Metaphysics


The high quality essays in this reader are carefully arranged to parallel the plot of the Meditations. It is a valuable guide for students of Descartes's most famous philosophical work.
— Alan Nelson, University of California, Irvine


—Concise Descartes chronology

—Annotated bibliography

—Index of names and subjects

—Index of passages cited

Descartes's Meditations

Critical Essays

Cover Image
Hardback
Paperback
Summary
Summary
  • This collection of recent articles by leading scholars is designed to illuminate one of the greatest and most influential philosophical books of all time. It includes incisive commentary on every major theme and argument in the Meditations, and will be valuable not only to philosophers but to historians, theologians, literary scholars, and interested general readers.

    Ideal for courses on the history of philosophy and those centered on Descartes specifically , this collection of recent articles by leading scholars is designed to illuminate for students one of the greatest and most influential philosophical books of all time. It includes incisive commentary on every major theme and argument in Meditations.
Details
Details
  • Rowman & Littlefield Publishers
    Pages: 256 • Trim: 6 x 9⅜
    978-0-8476-8486-1 • Hardback • August 1997 • $140.00 • (£108.00)
    978-0-8476-8487-8 • Paperback • August 1997 • $50.00 • (£38.00)
    Series: Critical Essays on the Classics Series
    Subjects: Philosophy / History & Surveys / General
Author
Author
  • Vere Chappell is professor of philosophy at the University of Massachusetts. He is editor and co-author of the Cambridge Companion to Locke, and the co-author of Twenty-Five Years of Descartes Scholarship.
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
  • Chapter 1 Acknowledgements
    Chapter 2 Note on the Reference
    Chapter 3 Introduction
    Chapter 4 The First Meditation
    Chapter 5 The Cogito and Its Importance
    Chapter 6 Descartes on His Essence
    Chapter 7 Descartes' Cosmological Argument
    Chapter 8 Descartes' Problematic Casual Principle of Ideas
    Chapter 9 Will and the Theory of Judgment
    Chapter 10 Epistemic Appraisal and the Cartesian Circle
    Chapter 11 Descartes' Ontological Argument
    Chapter 12 Descartes: The Epistemological Argument for Mind-Body Distinctness
    Chapter 13 Descartes' Sixth Meditation: The External World, 'Nature' and Human Nature
    Chapter 14 Truth and Stability in Descartes' Meditations
    Chapter 15 References
    Chapter 16 Bibliography
    Chapter 17 Index of Passages
    Chapter 18 About the Authors
Reviews
Reviews
  • Provides an excellent introduction. . . . This book will be as useful to beginners as to seasoned academics because it brings together eleven articles that are both clear and profound. . . . The organization of the book is both simple and efficient, and the brief introduction and the bibliography are well done.
    — J. M. Beyssade, Sorbonne, University of Paris


    This book is a collection of eleven terrific essays that represent a span of nearly thirty years of Descartes scholarship. The book clearly will not only benefit the professional researcher, but it will be of great value to undergraduate and graduate philosophy students interested in Descartes's work.
    — Review of Metaphysics


    The high quality essays in this reader are carefully arranged to parallel the plot of the Meditations. It is a valuable guide for students of Descartes's most famous philosophical work.
    — Alan Nelson, University of California, Irvine


Features
Features
  • —Concise Descartes chronology

    —Annotated bibliography

    —Index of names and subjects

    —Index of passages cited

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