The Blackwell guide to Descartes' Meditations PDF
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THE BLACKWELL GUIDE TO Descartes’ Meditations EDITED BY STEPHEN GAUKROGER The Blackwell Guide to Descartes’ Meditations Blackwell Guides to Great Works A proper understanding of philosophy requires engagement with the foundational texts that have shaped the development of the discipline and which have an abiding relevance to contemporary discussions. Each volume in this series provides guid- ance to those coming to the great works of the philosophical canon, whether for the first time or to gain new insight. Comprising specially commissioned contribu- tions from the finest scholars, each book offers a clear and authoritative account of the context, arguments, and impact of the work at hand. Where possible, the original text is reproduced alongside the essays. Published 1 The Blackwell Guide to Plato’s Republic, edited by Gerasimos Santas 2 The Blackwell Guide to Descartes’ Meditations, edited by Stephen Gaukroger 3 The Blackwell Guide to Mill’s Utilitarianism, edited by Henry R. West 4 The Blackwell Guide to Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics, edited by Richard Kraut 5 The Blackwell Guide to Hume’s Treatise, edited by Saul Traiger Forthcoming The Blackwell Guide to Kant’s Ethics, edited by Thomas E. Hill, Jr. The Blackwell Guide to Hegel’s Phenomenology of Spirit, edited by Kenneth Westphal The Blackwell Guide to Heidegger’s Being and Time, edited by Robert Scharff THE BLACKWELL GUIDE TO Descartes’ Meditations EDITED BY STEPHEN GAUKROGER © 2006 by Blackwell Publishing Ltd BLACKWELL PUBLISHING 350 Main Street, Malden, MA 02148-5020, USA 9600 Garsington Road, Oxford OX4 2DQ, UK 550 Swanston Street, Carlton, Victoria 3053, Australia The right of Stephen Gaukroger to be identified as the Author of the Editorial Material in this Work has been asserted in accordance with the UK Copyright, Designs, and Patents Act 1988. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, except as permitted by the UK Copyright, Designs, and Patents Act 1988, without the prior permission of the publisher. First published 2006 by Blackwell Publishing Ltd 1 2006 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data The Blackwell guide to Descartes’ meditations / edited by Stephen Gaukroger. p. cm.—(Blackwell guides to great works) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN-13: 978-1-4051-1875-0 (hardcover : alk. paper) ISBN-10: 1-4051-1875-X (hardcover : alk. paper) ISBN-13: 978-1-4051-1874-3 (pbk. : alk. paper) ISBN-10: 1-4051-1874-1 (pbk. : alk. paper) 1. Descartes, René, 1596–1650. Meditationes de prima philosophia. 2. First philosophy. I. Gaukroger, Stephen. II. Series. B1854.B55 2005 194—dc22 2005009842 A catalogue record for this title is available from the British Library. Set in 10 on 13 pt Galliard by SNP Best-set Typesetter Ltd, Hong Kong Printed and bound in the UK by TJ International, Padstow, Cornwall The publisher’s policy is to use permanent paper from mills that operate a sustainable forestry policy, and which has been manufactured from pulp processed using acid-free and elementary chlorine-free practices. Furthermore, the publisher ensures that the text paper and cover board used have met acceptable environmental accreditation standards. For further information on Blackwell Publishing, visit our website: www.blackwellpublishing.com Contents Notes on Contributors vii References to Descartes’ Works ix Introduction 1 Stephen Gaukroger 1 The Meditations and the Objections and Replies 6 Roger Ariew 2 Descartes and Skepticism 17 Charles Larmore 3 The Cogito and the Foundations of Knowledge 30 Edwin Curley 4 The Nature of the Mind 48 Marleen Rozemond 5 The Doctrine of Substance 67 Jorge Secada 6 The Doctrine of Ideas 86 Steven Nadler 7 Proofs for the Existence of God 104 Lawrence Nolan and Alan Nelson vi (cid:92)(cid:104)(cid:103)(cid:109)(cid:25)(cid:94)(cid:103)(cid:109)(cid:108) 8 The Cartesian Circle 122 Gary Hatfield 9 Judgment and Will 142 Michael Della Rocca 10 Descartes’ Proof of the Existence of Matter 160 Desmond M. Clarke 11 The Mind–Body Relation 179 John Cottingham 12 Seventeenth-century Responses to the Meditations 193 Tad M. Schmaltz Appendix: Descartes’ Six Metaphysical Meditations, trans. William Molyneux (1680) 204 References 243 Index 250 Notes on Contributors Roger Ariew is Professor of Philosophy at the University of South Florida, Tampa. He is author of Descartes and the Last Scholastics (1999), and co-author of Historical Dictionary of Descartes and Cartesian Philosophy (2003). He has published transla- tions of Montaigne, Descartes, and Leibniz, and edited the works of Dupleix. Desmond M. Clarke is Professor of Philosophy at University College Cork. He is author of Descartes’ Philosophy of Science (1982), Occult Powers and Hypotheses (1989), and Descartes’ Philosophy of Mind (2003). He is translator of the Penguin editions of Descartes’ writings. John Cottingham is Professor of Philosophy at Reading University. He is author of Rationalism (1984), Descartes (1986), The Rationalists (1988), A Descartes Dictionary (1993), Descartes’ Philosophy of Mind (1997), Philosophy and the Good Life (1998), and The Meaning of Life (2002). Among his many translations of Descartes, he is co-translator of the three-volume Cambridge edition of Descartes’ writings and letters. Edwin Curley is Professor of Philosophy at the University of Michigan. He is author of Spinoza’s Metaphysics (1969) and Descartes against the Skeptics (1978). He has published translations of Hobbes and Spinoza. Michael Della Rocca is Professor of Philosophy at Yale University. He is author of Representation and the Mind–Body Problem (1996). Stephen Gaukroger is Professor of History of Philosophy and History of Science at the University of Sydney, and presently holds an Australian Research Council Professorial Fellowship. His works include Descartes: An Intellectual Biography (1995),Francis Bacon and the Transformation of Early-modern Philosophy (2001), and Descartes’ System of Natural Philosophy (2002). viii (cid:103)(cid:104)(cid:109)(cid:94)(cid:108)(cid:25)(cid:104)(cid:103)(cid:25)(cid:92)(cid:104)(cid:25)(cid:103)(cid:109)(cid:107)(cid:98)(cid:91)(cid:110)(cid:109)(cid:104)(cid:107)(cid:108) Gary Hatfield is Professor of Philosophy at the University of Pennsylvania. He is author of The Natural and the Normative (1991), Descartes and the Meditations (2002), and Philosophy of Psychology (2005). He has published translations of Kant. Charles Larmore is Chester D. Tripp Professor in the Humanities, Professor of Philosophy and of Political Science at the University of Chicago. He is author of Patterns of Moral Complexity (1987), Modernité et morale (1993), The Morals of Modernity (1996), The Romantic Legacy (1996), Les Pratiques du moi (2004), and (with Alain Renaut) Débat sur l’éthique: Idéalisme ou réalisme. Steven Nadler is Professor of Philosophy at the University of Wisconsin. He is author of Arnauld and the Cartesian Philosophy of Ideas (1989), Malebranche and Ideas (1992), Spinoza: A Life (1999), and Spinoza’s Heresy (2002). Alan Nelson is Professor of Philosophy at the University of California, Irvine. He has published papers in early modern philosophy and the philosophy of science. Lawrence Nolan is Associate Professor of Philosophy at California State University, Long Beach. He has published papers in early modern philosophy and the phil- osophy of religion. Marleen Rozemond is Associate Professor of Philosophy at the University of Toronto. She is author of Descartes’ Dualism (1998). Tad M. Schmaltz is Professor of Philosophy at Duke University. He is author of Malebranche’s Theory of the Soul (1996) and Radical Cartesianism (2002). Jorge Secada is Associate Professor of Philosophy at the University of Virginia. He is author of Cartesian Metaphysics (2000).
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