Descartes Metaphysical Physics

Download or read book Descartes' Metaphysical Physics written by Daniel Garber and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 1992-05 with total page 416 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this first book-length treatment of Descartes' important and influential natural philosophy, Daniel Garber is principally concerned with Descartes' accounts of matter and motion—the joint between Descartes' philosophical and scientific interests. These accounts constitute the point at which the metaphysical doctrines on God, the soul, and body, developed in writings like the Meditations, give rise to physical conclusions regarding atoms, vacua, and the laws that matter in motion must obey. Garber achieves a philosophically rigorous reading of Descartes that is sensitive to the historical and intellectual context in which he wrote. What emerges is a novel view of this familiar figure, at once unexpected and truer to the historical Descartes. The book begins with a discussion of Descartes' intellectual development and the larger project that frames his natural philosophy, the complete reform of all the sciences. After this introduction Garber thoroughly examines various aspects of Descartes' physics: the notion of body and its identification with extension; Descartes' rejection of the substantial forms of the scholastics; his relation to the atomistic tradition of atoms and the void; the concept of motion and the laws of motion, including Descartes' conservation principle, his laws of the persistence of motion, and his collision law; and the grounding of his laws in God.

Download or read book Descartes and Early French Cartesianism written by Mihnea Dobre and published by . This book was released on 2017 with total page 421 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book The Oxford Handbook of Descartes and Cartesianism written by Steven M. Nadler and published by . This book was released on 2019 with total page 843 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An illustrious team of scholars offer a rich survey of the thought of Rene Descartes; of the development of his ideas by those who followed in his footsteps; and of the reaction against Cartesianism. Epistemology, method, metaphysics, physics, mathematics, moral philosophy, political thought, medical thought, and aesthetics are all covered.

Download or read book Cartesian Spacetime written by E. Slowik and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2013-03-14 with total page 253 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Although Descartes' natural philosophy marked an advance in the development of modern science, many critics over the years, such as Newton, have rejected his particular `relational' theory of space and motion. Nevertheless, it is also true that most historians and philosophers have not sufficiently investigated the viability of the Cartesian theory. This book explores, consequently, the success of the arguments against Descartes' theory of space and motion by determining if it is possible to formulate a version that can eliminate its alleged problems. In essence, this book comprises the first sustained attempt to construct a consistent `Cartesian' spacetime theory: that is, a theory of space and time that consistently incorporates Descartes' various physical and metaphysical concepts. Intended for students in the history of philosophy and science, this study reveals the sophisticated insights, and often quite successful elements, in Descartes' unjustly neglected relational theory of space and motion.

Download or read book Essays on the Philosophy and Science of René Descartes written by Stephen Voss and published by Oxford University Press, USA. This book was released on 1993 with total page 361 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In English, with some essays translated from French. Includes bibliographical references and index.

Download or read book The Cambridge Descartes Lexicon written by Lawrence Nolan and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2015-01-01 with total page 1642 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Cambridge Descartes Lexicon is the definitive reference source on René Descartes, 'the father of modern philosophy' and arguably among the most important philosophers of all time. Examining the full range of Descartes' achievements and legacy, it includes 256 in-depth entries that explain key concepts relating to his thought. Cumulatively they uncover interpretative disputes, trace his influences, and explain how his work was received by critics and developed by followers. There are entries on topics such as certainty, cogito ergo sum, doubt, dualism, free will, God, geometry, happiness, human being, knowledge, Meditations on First Philosophy, mind, passion, physics, and virtue, which are written by the largest and most distinguished team of Cartesian scholars ever assembled for a collaborative research project - 92 contributors from ten countries.

Download or read book Descartes and the Enlightenment written by Peter A. Schouls and published by McGill-Queen's Press - MQUP. This book was released on 1989 with total page 222 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Peter Schouls examines the role played by the concepts of freedom, mastery, and progress in Descartes' writings, arguing that these ideas express a vital and fundamental feature of Descartes' thought. These theories also occupy a central position in the thought of the Enlightenment. Since the more contentious claim is that they function centrally in Descartes' works, Schouls presents a careful and detailed examination of the conjunction and use of these ideas in Descartes' writings. This examination warrants the conclusion that they play the same role in Descartes' works as they do in writings typical of the Enlightenment.