Descartes' Natural Philosophy - edited by Gaukroger, Schuster, Sutton

Descartes' Natural Philosophy
edited by Stephen Gaukroger, John Schuster, John Sutton

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Descartes' Natural Philosophy
Routledge, 2000. ISBN 0415219930.
Order the book for your library, at a mere US $125, via Amazon!

Published by Routledge on 14 July, 2000, pp.xii + 767, 52 line figures and 16 b+w photos.
This book places Descartes' scientific projects, rather than his metaphysics or epistemology,
at the centre of his philosophical concerns. Descartes' picture of the natural world admits of
surprising complexity, with both his cosmology and his physiology modelled on the dynamics
of fluids. Rejecting the tired caricature by which Descartes' dualism left nature and the human
body as barren, inert matter to be dominated by active ghostly soul, the authors in contrast
focus on the details of the links Descartes sought to forge between physics, medicine, and
ethics. Among the topics covered are mechanics and meteorology, optics and experimental
method, anatomy and embryology, and theories of imagination, perception, and the passions.

Cover blurb:
The most comprehensive collection of essays on Descartes' scientific writings ever published,
this volume offers a detailed reassessment of Descartes' scientific work and its bearing on his
philosophy. The essays, written by some of the world's leading scholars, cover topics as
diverse as optics, cosmology and medicine, and will be of vital interest to all historians of philosophy
or science.

Table Of Contents

Introduction

ONE Mechanics and Cosmology
                    1. Descartes and the natural philosophy of the Coimbra commentaries Dennis Des Chene
                    2. Descartes' debt to Beeckman: inspiration, cooperation, conflict Klaas Van Berkel
                    3. The foundational role of hydrostatics and statics in Descartes' natural philosophy Stephen Gaukroger
                    4. Force, determination and impact Peter McLaughlin
                    5. A different Descartes: Descartes' programme for a mathematical physics in his correspondence
                          Daniel Garber
                    6. Causal powers and occasionalism from Descartes to Malebranche Desmond Clarke
                    7. Modelling nature: Descartes versus Regius Theo Verbeek
                    8. The influence of Cartesian cosmology in England Peter Harrison

TWO Method, Optics, and the Role of Experiment
                    9. NeoAristotle and method: between Zabarella and Descartes Timothy Reiss
                    10. Figuring things out: figurate problem-solving in the early Descartes Dennis Sepper
                    11. The theory of the rainbow Jean-Robert Armogathe
                    12. Descartes opticien: the construction of the law of refraction and the manufacture of its physical
                            rationales, 1618-1629 John A. Schuster
                    13. A 'science for honnêtes hommes': La Recherche de la Vérité and the deconstruction of experimental
                            knowledge Alberto Guillermo Ranea
                    14. Descartes, experiments, and a first generation Cartesian, Jacques Rohault Trevor McLaughlin

THREE Physiology
                    15. Cartesian physiology Annie Bitbol-Hesperies
                    16. The resources of a mechanist physiology and the problem of goal-directed processes
                          Stephen Gaukroger
                    17. Bêtes-machines Katherine Morris
                    18. Descartes' cardiology and its reception in English physiology Peter Anstey

FOUR Imagination and Representation
                    19. Cartesian imagination and perspectival art Betsy Newell Decyk
                    20. From sparks of truth to the glow of possibility Peter Schouls
                    21. Descartes' theory of visual spatial perception Celia Wolf-Devine
                    22. Symposium on Descartes on perceptual cognition: introduction John Sutton
                            Descartes and formal signs David Behan
                            Descartes' startling doctrine of the reverse sign relation Peter Slezak
                            The role of inner objects in perception Celia Wolf-Devine
                            Descartes, Locke, and 'direct realism' Yasuhiko Tomida
                            Replies to my fellow symposiasts John Yolton

FIVE Mind and Body, Thought and Sensation
                    23. Descartes' intellectual and corporeal memories Veronique M. Foti
                    24. The senses as witnesses Gordon Baker
                    25. Descartes' naturalism about the mental Gary Hatfield
                    26. Descartes and the corporeal mind: some implications of the Regius affair Catherine Wilson
                    27. Perrault's criticism of the Cartesian theory of the soul John P. Wright
                    28. The body and the brain John Sutton
                    29. Life and health in Cartesian natural philosophy Dennis Des Chene
                    30. The texture of thought: why Descartes' Meditationes is meditational, and why it matters
                          Dennis Sepper

Bibliography

                    Contributors:
                    Peter Anstey, University of Sydney; Jean-Robert Armogathe, Ecole Practique des Hautes Etudes; Gordon
                    Baker, St. John's College, Oxford; David Behan, Agnes Scott College; Annie Bitpol-Hesperies, Sorbonne;
                    Desmond Clarke, University College, Cork; Betsy Decyk, California State University; Dennis Des Chene,
                    Johns Hopkins University; Veronique M. Foti, Pennsylvania State University; Daniel Garber, University of
                    Chicago; Stephen Gaukroger, University of Sydney; Peter Harrison, Bond University; Gary Hatfield,
                    University of Pennsylvania; Trevor McClaughlin, Macquarie University; Peter McLaughlin, University of
                    Konstanz; Katherine Morris, Mansfield College, Oxford; Alberto Guillermo Ranea, Universidad Torcuto Di Tella;
                    Timothy Reiss, New York University; Peter Schouls, Massey University; John Schuster, University of New
                    South Wales; Professor Dennis Sepper, University of Dallas; Peter Slezak, University of New South Wales;
                    John Sutton, Macquarie University; Yasuhiko Tomida, Kyoto University; Klaas van Berkel, University of
                    Groningen; Theo Verbeek, Utrecht University; Catherine Wilson, University of British Columbia; John Wright,
                    Central Michigan University; John Yolton, Rutgers University.

Descartes' Natural Philosophy was featured in a full-page article 'Plumbing the Cartesian Wells' (!?) by David
        Myton in Campus Review (Australia's Higher Education and Training Newspaper), vol.10 no.36, September 20-26, 2000.
        Along with a photo of Gaukroger and Sutton, and obligatory references to Monty Python, the piece includes lots of
        Stephen Gaukroger's own words from interview, and offers a very positive spin on the project. If you'd like a photocopy
        by snail mail just email me.

Last updated 21 November 2000
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