Product Description

The Meditations, one of the key texts of Western philosophy, is the most widely studied of all Descartes’ writings. This authoritative translation by John Cottingham, taken from the much acclaimed three-volume Cambridge edition of the Philosophical Writings of Descartes, is based upon the best available texts and presents Descartes’ central metaphysical writings in clear, readable modern English. As well as the complete text of the Meditations, the reader will find a thematic abridgement of the Objections and Replies (which were originally published with the Meditations) containing Descartes’ replies to his critics. These extracts, specially selected for the present volume, indicate the main philosophical difficulties which occurred to Descartes’ contemporaries and show how Descartes developed and clarified his arguments in response. This edition contains a new comprehensive introduction to Descartes’ philosophy by John Cottingham and the classic introductory essay on the Meditations by Bernard Williams.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #18131 in Books
• Published on: 1996-04-18
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 167 pages

Customer Reviews

a very important, if the not the most to modern philosophy
Descartes is widely recognised as the founding father of modern philosophy. The Meditations introduce a scientific method into philosophical thought, and are the foundation to Descartes' work in science.

It is a very hard piece of work to understand, and to reaps its benefits fully, it is essential to also read the Objections and Replies (to Descartes) and also the secondary texts (especially B. Williams, Curley, Wilson and Cottingham).

On the superficial level The Meditations are very far fetched and can be dismissed as an invalid proof of the existence of God. This may be so, but the real impact Descartes makes is in changing the methodology that Philosophy begins to take. For these reasons The Meditations is an extrememly important text. And though I would not label any book as being essential for a student or lover of Philosophy to have read, I would label the Meditations as a classic.

It is worth reading just to find out what all the hype (surrounding the cogito 'i think, (therefore) i am') is all about.

Cogito Ergo Sum.... The Matrix, Dude!!
As a former student of philospohy amid the dreaming spires and an avid movie fan, my delight at seeing a modern rendition of a classic theory, instead of just seeing Shakespeare 'done teen' (10 things i hate about you...etc.) was clear to all.

The Matrix also did me a favour, because, to my mind, the key to unlocking philosophical concepts is always in the useful analogy or visualisation and here was a 2-hour visualisation with Keanu and special fx.

Anyway, Descartes' best-known piece is probably my favourite among the classic theories; accessible, easy to understand and easy to take a view on, as opposed to, say, Kant's theory of moral obligation...

All Descartes really does is walk you through a series of logical thought processes that he took himself through in order to clarify his views on God and existence. The classic sceptics, for example, believed that we could not know anything, whereas Descartes shows us his reasoning that God is all the proof we need.

For example, Descartes takes us through such questions as, how can i know the dream from the waking? how do i know that i am not a brain in a vat being manipulated by some devil? Since all philosophers seem to agree that logic is an acceptable proof, we then follow Descartes' attempts to reason his existence and he reasons 'Cogito Ergo Sum' or, 'I think therefore I am'. Go ahead and make up your own mind, it sounds ridiculous, but it becomes quite fun when you realise the difficulties in proving your own existence...! Enjoy.

By the way, this edition is fantastic and has all you need to lead you on to further reading, should you wish.

All sophestry and lies throw to the flames.
Sophestry, Sophestry condemn it to the flames. This book is like a spot the mistakes book of philosophy. From the Cartesian Circle to the Intentional fallacy to the blatent disreguard of predicates this book is seriously flawed. Making the reader use pons asinorum from previous meditations to attempt to prove the most propostrous assertions from the existence of god to the idea that dualism has to occur.
Saying that i like this book. It was certainly needed to get philosophy moving and is very readable. Beware of taking it at face value this book has to be read very carefully to be understood deeply. There are about 5 levels of people who read this book. On first reading you will probably become lost through the forth meditation onwards but this is where the sophestry becomes the most intense.
Don't throw it to the flames becuase it is enjoyable to destroy.