Product Description

In this new introduction to a classic philosophical text, Catherine Wilson examines the arguments of Descartes’ famous Meditations, the book which launched modern philosophy. Drawing on the reinterpretations of Descartes’ thought of the past twenty-five years, she shows how Descartes constructs a theory of the mind, the body, nature, and God from a premise of radical uncertainty. She discusses in detail the historical context of Descartes’ writings and their relationship to early modern science, and at the same time she introduces concepts and problems that define the philosophical enterprise as it is understood today. Following closely the text of the Meditations and meant to be read alongside them, this survey is accessible to readers with no previous background in philosophy. It is well-suited to university-level courses on Descartes, but can also be read with profit by students in other disciplines.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #580958 in Books
• Published on: 2003-11-20
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 284 pages

Customer Reviews

A very useful introduction to Descartes
Catherine Wilson has written an excellent introduction to Descartes's 'Meditations on First Philosophy' which provides a thorough exposition of the arguments of the Meditations, as well as discussing objections and responses from Descartes's contemporaries. In addition, there is a valuable chapter on 'Descartes in context' which presents the responses from other philosophers such as Spinoza, Locke, Malebranche, Leibniz, Berkeley and Kant. Professor Wilson's book is written in a clear, accessible and engaging style, appropriate to an introductory book on Descartes, and is illustrated with schematic diagrams of the stages of each of the six meditations. As an undergraduate student of Philosophy, I have found Professor Wilson's book to be a very helpful commentary. Prospective readers may judge for themselves the scope and quality of this book by using Amazon's 'Search Inside' function.

Valid, but anecdotal in parts
After an annoyingly subjective and personal introduction and first chapter, we do actually get into the meat of the subject at hand, which is thankful as on two occasions I was on the point of abandoning this book on the basis of its highly anecdotal nature. But Catherine Wilson does somehow manage to weave into her rather idiosyncratic style quite a substantial body of work, which, if one sticks at it, can illuminate the Meditations in quite a serious way. I do get the impression that some of the sections were not intended for philosophy students as certain of the explanations on belief/doubt/reason, etc. are long-winded and trivial. Nevertheless if one abstracts from this rather 'babyish' style one does actually draw quite substantial profit from reading this work. A recommended book (just!)