Descartes main contribution to the history of ideas was his effort
to construct a philosophy that would be sympathetic to the new
sciences that emerged in the seventeenth century. To a great extent
he was the midwife to the Scientific Revolution and a significant
contributor to its key concepts. This is the first biography in
English to address the full range of Descartes interest in
theology, philosophy, and the sciences, tracing his intellectual
development throughout his entire career.
This biography addresses the full range of Descartes' interests
and traces his intellectual development.
Descartes is best remembered for 'I think, therefore I am',
but his main contribution to the history of ideas was to construct
a philosophy that would be sympathetic to the emergence of the new
sciences in the seventeenth century. He was midwife to the
Scientific Revolution and a significant contributor to its key
concepts, fashioning a philosophy that accommodated these needs
whilst earning the unrelenting hostility of Catholic and Calvinist
theologians. His contemporaries claimed that his proof of God's
existence was so unsuccessful that he must have been a cryptic
atheist, and that his skepticism served merely to fan the flames of
libertinism. Descartes died in obscurity but became one of the most
famous of philosophers, a status that he enjoys today. This is the
first biography in English to address the full range of
Descartes' interest in theology, philosophy, and the sciences,
tracing his intellectual development throughout his career.
Review quote:
'Desmond Clarke - does a very good job of tracing the details
of Descartes's life - the many comings and goings, the
exchanges with other thinkers. Clarke takes the often fragmentary
testimony that we have from the letters, the accounts found in
earlier biographies and the newly discovered facts, and works them
into a convincing narrative - the reader will be able to learn
where its subject was then and what he was thinking about - Clarke
also supplements this factual information with summaries and
interpretations of key questions in Descartes's thought - such
commentaries are essential in the biography of a figure important
primarily for what he thought - This book will be of great use to
the scholar in the history of philosophy or the history of science
who needs to know the complex details of Descartes's life
-' Times Literary Supplement
Table of contents:
1. A lawyer's education; 2. In search of a career (1612-1622);
3. Magic and mechanism: Paris 1622-1628; 4. A fabulous world
(1629-33); 5. The scientific essays and the Discourse on Method
(1633-37); 6. Retreat and defence (1637-39); 7. Metaphysics in a
hornet's nest (1639-42); 8. The French liar's monkey and
the Utrecht crisis; 9. Descartes and Princess Elizabeth; 10. The
Principles of Philosophy (1644); 11. The quarrel and final rift
with Regius; 12. Once more into battle: the Leiden theologians
(1647); 13. Thoughts of retirement; 14. Death in Sweden; Appendix
1: Descartes' principal works; Appendix 2: Places where
Descartes lived; Bibliography.
'Desmond Clarke ... does a very good job of tracing the details of Descartes's life - the many comings and goings, the exchanges with other thinkers. Clarke takes the often fragmentary testimony that we have from the letters, the accounts found in earlier biographies and the newly discovered facts, and works them into a convincing narrative ... the reader will be able to learn where its subject was then and what he was thinking about ... Clarke also supplements this factual information with summaries and interpretations of key questions in Descartes's thought ... such commentaries are essential in the biography of a figure important primarily for what he thought ... This book will be of great use to the scholar in the history of philosophy or the history of science who needs to know the complex details of Descartes's life ...' Times Literary Supplement
Desmond Clarke is Professor of Philosophy at University College Cork. He received a D.Litt from th National University of Ireland, was Jean Monnet Fellow at the European Univeristy Institute in Florence, and has been elected to the Royal Irish Academy. He is the author of a number of books on Descartes and the seventeenth century, most recently Descartes' Theory of Mind.
Inhaltsangabe
1. A lawyers education; 2. In search of a career (16121622); 3. Magic and mechanism: Paris 16221628; 4. A fabulous world (162933); 5. The scientific essays and the Discourse on Method (163337); 6. Retreat and defence (163739); 7. Metaphysics in a hornets nest (163942); 8. The French liars monkey and the Utrecht crisis; 9. Descartes and Princess Elizabeth; 10. The Principles of Philosophy (1644); 11. The quarrel and final rift with Regius; 12. Once more into battle: the Leiden theologians (1647); 13. Thoughts of retirement; 14. Death in Sweden; Appendix 1: Descartes principal works; Appendix 2: Places where Descartes lived; Bibliography.
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