Table of Contents

Preface.

Abbreviations.

1. Descartes' Life and Times:.

Descartes' Generation: 'Science' and 'Philosophy' in the Seventeenth Century.

Scholasticism.

Descartes' Early Years.

Descartes' Later Years: The Major Publications.

2. The Cartesian Method:.

Knowledge and Intuition.

The Role of Doubt in Descartes' Philosophy.

First Principles.

3. From Self to God to Knowledge of the World:.

The Trademark Argument.

Coda: The Trademark Argument, Second Version.

The Ontological Argument.

The Avoidance of Error.

The Cartesian Circle.

The Role of God.

4. The Material Universe:.

Our Knowledge of the World: The Intellect and the Senses.

Extended Substance.

Science, Mathematics and Mechanical Models.

Science and Religion.

5. Cartesian Man:.

Men, Machines and Animals.

Res Cogitans.

Cartesian Dualism and its Problems.

Sensation and Imagination.

Cartesian 'Trialism'.

6. The Human Condition:.

Our Perception of the World and What it is Really Like.

Innate Ideas.

Freedom and Reason.

The Good Life.

Appendix: Descartes' Dreams.

References.

Index.

About the Author

John Cottingham is Lecturer in Philosophy at the University of Reading. He is author of Rationalism (1994) and, in collaboration with R. Stoothoff and D. Murdoch, of a new two-volume translation of The Philosophical Writings of Descartes (1985).

Reviews

"An excellent general book on philosophy ... a wonderful introduction to the subject for both the general reader and the beginning student, and will be read with profit and pleasure by those more seasoned in the discipline." D.W.D. Owen, Times Higher Education Supplement
'A work that can be highly recommended as a most useful introduction to Descartes.' Pierre Watter, Times Educational Supplement