Descartes and Cartesianism - Essays in Honour of Desmond Clarke

This collection of original essays deals with Cartesian themes and problems, especially as these arise in connection with Cartesian natural science and the theory of perception, agency, mentality, divinity, and the passions. It focuses in particular on Desmond Clarke's important contributions to these aspects of Descartes's writings.

This volume is a collection of original essays dealing with Cartesian themes and problems, especially as these arise in connection with Cartesian natural science and the theory of perception, agency, mentality, divinity, and the passions. It focuses in particular on Desmond Clarke's important contributions to these aspects of Descartes's writings.

Stephen Gaukroger and Catherine Wilson split the volume into four distinct parts; Cartesian Science, Mind and Perception, Actions and Passions, and Cartesian Woman. The contributors are internationally known and respected scholars of 17th century philosophy writing on a number of their favourite Cartesian topics.

Inhaltsverzeichnis:

Part I. Cartesian Science
1: John Schuster: Did Descartes Teach a 'Philosophy of Science' or Implement 'Strategies of Natural Philosophical Explanation'?
2: Susan James: A Virtuous Practice: Descartes on Scientific Activity
3: John Cottingham: God in Cartesian Science and Cartesian Ethics
Part II. Mind and Perception
4: Galen Strawson: Descartes' Mind
5: Catherine Wilson: Truth in Perception: Causation and the 'Quasinormative' Machine
6: Erik-Jan Bos: Descartes and Regius on the Pineal Gland and Animal Spirits, and A Letter of Regius on the True Seat of the Soul
7: Stephen Gaukroger: Cartesianism and Visual Cognition: The Problems with the Optical Instrument Model
8: Delphine Antoine-Mahut: Reintroducing Descartes in the History of Materialism: The Effects of the Descartes/Hobbes Debate on the First Reception of Cartesianism
Part III. Actions and Passions
9: Alexander Douglas: Descartes and the Possibility of a Philosophy of Action
10: Theo Verb eek: Regius and Descartes on the Passions
11: Denis Kambouchner: Descartes on the Power of the Soul: A Reconsideration
Part IV. Cartesian Woman
12: Karen Detlefsen: Cartesianism and its Feminist Promise and Limits: The Case of Mary Astell

Rezension:

One of the most pleasing features of this collection is the rather striking, and often controversial, nature of the theses being defended. There is no doubt that the authors have detailed knowledge of Descartes' corpus and a deep understanding of the issues involved in their subjects. ... It is clear that the authors wanted to focus on those topics that most benefitted from Desmond Clarke's work, and this was done very well. Marcy P. Lascano, Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews