Product Description

This classic and challenging introduction to Descartes by one of the most distinguished modern philosophers, not only analyses Descartes' project of founding knowledge on certainty, but uncovers the philosophical motives for his search.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #327451 in Books
• Published on: 2005-03-16
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 328 pages

Review
'Excellent.' - The Times Educational Supplement

'His biographical digest is as succinct as his philosophical analysis is thorough' - The Sunday Times

'Bernard Williams is arguably the greatest philosopher of his era.' - The Guardian

'One of the most brilliant figures of his generation.' - Glasgow Herald

'His biographical digest is as succinct as his philosophical analysis is thorough.' - The Sunday Times

'Bernard Williams is arguably the greatest philosopher of his era.' - The Guardian

'Descartes - The Project of Pure Enquiry, first published in 1978 and repackaged here with a foreword by the Cartesian scholar John Cottingham, is a good deal more than just a survey of one of the landmarks in the history of philosophy. It is itself a work of substantive philosophical analysis and a reminder of just what British philosophy lost when Williams died in 2003.' - New Humanist

'[Bernard Williams] brought philosophical reflection to an opulent array of subjects, with more imagination and with greater cultural and historical understanding than anyone else of his time' Thomas Nagel, London Review of Books

'Bernard Williams has a greater force of thought, deployed over a wider horizon, than anyone else I have ever listened to.' John Dunn - The Times Higher Education Supplement

From the Back Cover

[Copy finalized on Blurbwriter, with additional amendments: check there for latest version, don't use this one. - GMM, 16 Nov 04]

Descartes has often been called the 'father of modern philosophy'. His attempts to find foundations for knowledge, and to reconcile the existence of the soul with the emerging science of his time, are among the most influential and widely studied in the history of philosophy.

This is a classic and challenging introduction to Descartes by one of the most distinguished modern philosophers. Bernard Williams not only analyzes Descartes's project of founding knowledge on certainty, but uncovers the philosophical motives for his search. With acute insight, he demonstrates how Descartes's Meditations are not merely a description but the very enactment of philosophical thought and discovery. Williams covers all of the key areas of Descartes's thought, including God, the will, the possibility of knowledge, and the mind and its place in nature. He also makes some profound contributions to the theory of knowledge, metaphysics and philosophy generally, making Descartes essential reading for any student of philosophy.

This reissue includes a new foreword by John Cottingham, University of Reading.

About the Author

Bernard Williams died in 2003. He taught at the Universities of London, Cambridge, Oxford and the University of California at Berkeley, and was one of the leading philosophers of his generation. He wrote many influential books including Problems of the Self and Ethics and the Limits of Philosophy. His last work was Truth and Truthfulness: An Essay in Genealogy (2002).

Customer Reviews

Detailed but difficult
There is no doubt that for anybody studying Descartes' Meditations, Bernard Williams' book is essential reading. Most topics are covered in great depth and the book's particular strength is describing the possible interpretations of Descartes' work. Cottingham's book of the same title seems to miss some important points when considered alongside the Williams work.

However, whilst one cannot doubt Williams' great intellect, he often has difficulty in presenting his thoughts in a clear structure. One can't help but feel that many chapters suffer from essentially being intellectual rambling. Furthermore, Williams sometimes goes to great lengths to defend Descartes, at the cost of not considering some objections appropriately.