Descartes on Forms and Mechanisms

Descartes on Forms and Mechanisms PDF Author: Helen Hattab
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 052151892X
Category : Mathematics
Languages : en
Pages : 249

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Book Description
This book traces Descartes' groundbreaking theory of scientific explanation back to the mathematical demonstrations of Aristotelian physics, in the light of the arguments for and against substantial forms which were available to him. Will appeal to a wide range of readers interested in the philosophy and science of the early modern period.

Descartes on Forms and Mechanisms

Descartes on Forms and Mechanisms PDF Author: Helen Hattab
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 052151892X
Category : Mathematics
Languages : en
Pages : 249

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Book Description
This book traces Descartes' groundbreaking theory of scientific explanation back to the mathematical demonstrations of Aristotelian physics, in the light of the arguments for and against substantial forms which were available to him. Will appeal to a wide range of readers interested in the philosophy and science of the early modern period.

The Cambridge Descartes Lexicon

The Cambridge Descartes Lexicon PDF Author: Lawrence Nolan
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 9781009362542
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
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.

Descartes's Theory of Mind

Descartes's Theory of Mind PDF Author: Desmond M. Clarke
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
ISBN: 9780199284948
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 280

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Book Description
Descartes is possibly the most famous of all writers on the mind, but his theory of mind has been almost universally misunderstood, because his philosophy has not been seen in the context of his scientific work. Desmond Clarke offers a radical and convincing rereading, undoing the received perception of Descartes as the chief defender of mind/body dualism. For Clarke, the key is to interpret his philosophical efforts as an attempt to reconcile his scientific pursuits with the theologically orthodox views of his time.

Descartes and the Ontology of Everyday Life

Descartes and the Ontology of Everyday Life PDF Author: Deborah J. Brown
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
ISBN: 0198836813
Category : Ontology
Languages : en
Pages : 266

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Book Description
The seventeenth century was a period of extraordinary invention, discovery and revolutions in scientific, social and political orders. It was a time of expansive automation, biological discovery, rapid advances in medical knowledge, of animal trials and a questioning of the boundaries between species, human and non-human, between social classes, and of the assumed naturalness of political inequality. This book gives a tour through those objects, ordinary and extraordinary, which captivated the philosophical imagination of the single most important French philosopher of this period, Rene Descartes. Deborah J. Brown and Calvin G. Normore document Descartes' attempt to make sense of the complex, composite objects of human and divine invention, consistent with the fundamental tenets of his metaphysical system. Their central argument is that, far from reducing all the categories of ordinary experience to the two basic categories of substance, mind and body, Descartes' philosophy recognises irreducible composites that resist reduction, and require their own distinctive modes of explanation.

Descartes's Concept of Mind

Descartes's Concept of Mind PDF Author: Lilli Alanen
Publisher: Harvard University Press
ISBN: 9780674020108
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 404

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Book Description
Descartes's concept of the mind, as distinct from the body with which it forms a union, set the agenda for much of Western philosophy's subsequent reflection on human nature and thought. This is the first book to give an analysis of Descartes's pivotal concept that deals with all the functions of the mind, cognitive as well as volitional, theoretical as well as practical and moral. Focusing on Descartes's view of the mind as intimately united to and intermingled with the body, and exploring its implications for his philosophy of mind and moral psychology, Lilli Alanen argues that the epistemological and methodological consequences of this view have been largely misconstrued in the modern debate. Informed by both the French tradition of Descartes scholarship and recent Anglo-American research, Alanen's book combines historical-contextual analysis with a philosophical problem-oriented approach. It seeks to relate Descartes's views on mind and intentionality both to contemporary debates and to the problems Descartes confronted in their historical context. By drawing out the historical antecedents and the intellectual evolution of Descartes's thinking about the mind, the book shows how his emphasis on the embodiment of the mind has implications far more complex and interesting than the usual dualist account suggests.

The Mechanical Mind in History

The Mechanical Mind in History PDF Author: Phil Husbands
Publisher: MIT Press (MA)
ISBN:
Category : Computers
Languages : en
Pages : 480

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Book Description
The idea of intelligent machines has become part of popular culture. Tracing the history of the actual science of machine intelligence reveals a rich network of cross-disciplinary contributions, and the origins of ideas now central to artificial intelligence, artificial life, cognitive science and neuroscience.

Descartes' Philosophy of Science

Descartes' Philosophy of Science PDF Author: Desmond M. Clarke
Publisher: Manchester University Press
ISBN: 9780719008689
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 272

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Book Description


Rene Descartes: Oxford Bibliographies Online Research Guide

Rene Descartes: Oxford Bibliographies Online Research Guide PDF Author: Oxford University Press
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
ISBN: 0199808732
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 25

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Book Description
This ebook is a selective guide designed to help scholars and students of social work find reliable sources of information by directing them to the best available scholarly materials in whatever form or format they appear from books, chapters, and journal articles to online archives, electronic data sets, and blogs. Written by a leading international authority on the subject, the ebook provides bibliographic information supported by direct recommendations about which sources to consult and editorial commentary to make it clear how the cited sources are interrelated related. This ebook is a static version of an article from Oxford Bibliographies Online: Philosophy, a dynamic, continuously updated, online resource designed to provide authoritative guidance through scholarship and other materials relevant to the study Philosophy. Oxford Bibliographies Online covers most subject disciplines within the social science and humanities, for more information visit www.oxfordbibligraphies.com.

The Oxford Handbook of Descartes and Cartesianism

The Oxford Handbook of Descartes and Cartesianism PDF Author: Steven Nadler
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
ISBN: 0198796900
Category : Philosophy, French
Languages : en
Pages : 843

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Book Description
The Oxford Handbook of Descartes and Cartesianism comprises fifty specially written chapters on Rene Descartes (1596-1650) and Cartesianism, the dominant paradigm for philosophy and science in the seventeenth century, written by an international group of leading scholars of early modern philosophy. The first part focuses on the various aspects of Descartes's biography (including his background, intellectual contexts, writings, and correspondence) and philosophy, with chapters on his epistemology, method, metaphysics, physics, mathematics, moral philosophy, political thought, medical thought, and aesthetics. The chapters of the second part are devoted to the defense, development and modification of Descartes's ideas by later generations of Cartesian philosophers in France, the Netherlands, Italy, and elsewhere. The third and final part considers the opposition to Cartesian philosophy by other philosophers, as well as by civil, ecclesiastic, and academic authorities. This handbook provides an extensive overview of Cartesianism - its doctrines, its legacies and its fortunes - in the period based on the latest research.

Kant on Reality, Cause, and Force

Kant on Reality, Cause, and Force PDF Author: Tal Glezer
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1108359663
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 244

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Book Description
Kant's category of reality is an often overlooked element of his Critique of Pure Reason. Tal Glezer shows that it nevertheless belongs at the core of Kant's mature critical philosophy: it captures an issue that motivated his critical turn, shaped his theory of causation, and established the role of his philosophy of science. Glezer's study traces the roots of Kant's category of reality to early modern debates over the intelligibility of substantial forms, fueled by the tension between the idea of non-extended substances and that of extended objects. This tension influenced Kant's pre-critical work, and eventually inspired his radical break towards transcendental idealism. Glezer explores the importance of reality for Kant's conceptions of cause and force, and sheds new light on his philosophy of physical science, including gravity. His book will interest scholars of Kant and of early modern philosophy, as well as historians of scientific ideas.