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This book explores René Descartes's attempts to describe particular bodies, such as rocks, minerals, metals, plants, and animals, within the mechanistic interpretation of nature of his philosophical program. Despite his early rationalistic epistemology, Descartes's increasing attention to collections, histories, lists of qualities, and particular bodies results in a puzzling 'short history of all natural phenomena' contained in the Principles of philosophy (1644). The present book outlines the role of Descartes's observations and experimentation as he aimed to construct a universal science of nature, ultimately revealing the mechanization of nature in detail, and for curious bodies such as the Bologna Stone or the sensitive herb. What results is a theoretical natural history consistent with the mechanical principles of his philosophy, ultimately shedding new light on his attempt to produce a complete philosophy of nature.
List of contents
Glossary.- Introduction.- Part 1. A Theoretical Framework.- 1. Method.- 2. Nature.- Part 2. Practical Knowledge.- 3. Metals.- 4. Plants.- 5. Animals.- Conclusions.
About the author
Dr. Fabrizio Baldassarri is an expert of Descartes's philosophy and science. He has been the recipient of a Marie-Curie Fellowship at Cä Foscari University Venice and Indiana University Bloomington. He has edited volumes, such as
Vegetative Powers (Springer 2021),
Descartes and Medicine (Brepols 2023),
Andrea Cesalpino and Renaissance Aristotelianism (Bloomsbury 2023),
Plants in 16th and 17th century (De Gruyter 2023) and several special issues for
Early Sciene and Medicine, the
Journal for Early Modern Studies,
Nuncius. He is the author of a monograph entitled,
Il metodo al tavolo anatomico: Descartes e la medicina (Rome 2021).
