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This volume presents essays on Descartes by pre-eminent Italian historian of philosophy Emanuela Scribano. Originally written and published in French and Italian, these essays are translated into English for the first time. The essays focus on some pivotal theses in Cartesian philosophy: proofs of God's existence, free creation of eternal truths, error, animals as machines, occasionalism, examining them in light of the philosophical context and of classical writers such as Galen, scholastic authors such as Thomas Aquinas, Duns Scotus, Suárez, authors contemporary to Descartes, such as Campanella and Silhon, and philosophers who referred to Cartesian philosophy, such as La Forge and Malebranche.
List of contents
- Table of Contents
- Forword by Steven Nadler
- Introduction
- I. The idea of God
- I.1 Descartes' Innatism as anti-Augustinianism
- I.2 The Knowledge of God in Descartes' Letters
- II. God and Human Mind
- II.1 Divine Deception in Descartes' Meditations
- II.2 The Replies to the Seventh Set of Objections, the Skeptic's Duties, and the Circle
- II.3 What God Cannot do. Descartes and the Limits of Divine Power
- III. Error
- III.1 Descartes and False Ideas
- III.2 Descartes on Dreamers, Madmen, and Amputees. A Physiological Reading of the Meditations
- IV. Descartes and Free Thinkers
- IV.1 Traces of the Atheist. From Lessius to Descartes via Vanini, Mersenne and Petit
- IV.2 Animals and Clocks. Descartes against "Weak-minds"
- V. Occasionalism against Descartes
- V.1 Quod nescis quomodo fiat id non facis. Occasionalism against Descartes?
- V.2 The Return of Campanella. La Forge against Cureau de La Chambre
- V.3 Knowledge and Causality: Malebranche's Opponents.
About the author
Emanuela Scribano previously held the positions of Full Professor of History of Philosophy at the University of Siena; Full Professor of Philosophy of Religion and of History of Philosophy at the University Ca' Foscari Venice. She is currently Emeritus Professor at the University Ca' Foscari Venice and has been a member of Accademia dei Lincei since 2021.
Summary
This volume presents essays on Descartes by the pre-eminent Italian historian of philosophy Emanuela Scribano, here translated into English for the first time. Thematically cohesive in their focus on what Scribano calls the nerve centers of Cartesian philosophy, they examine Cartesian ideas in context, not only of Descartes' philosophical contemporaries. These include Scholastic thinkers such as Thomas Aquinas, Duns Scotus, and Suárez; Classical writers such as Galen; authors contemporary to Descartes, such as Campanella and Silhon; and philosophers who referred to Cartesian philosophy, such as La Forge and Malebranche. By considering their influence and contributions, it is possible to clarify some basic theses of Cartesian philosophy and to answer some long-debated questions in Descartes scholarship, pertaining to issues such as the proof of God's existence, the free creation of eternal truths, the hypothesis of divine deception, the limits of divine power, the theory of animals as machines, the theory of error, and the possible Cartesian origin of some central theses in Occasionalism.
The essays reflect Scribano's methodological approach: that to understand the intent, scope, and meaning of a philosophical theory, one must examine it with the eyes of those who share the author's philosophical culture. Scribano provides a newly written introduction, and the volume includes a foreword by Steven Nadler.
Additional text
This is a significant work not only in Cartesian studies but also in the history of philosophy generally...Highly recommended. Upper-division undergraduates through faculty.
