Descartes on Forms and Mechanisms

by Helen Hattab

• ISBN13: 9780521518925
• ISBN10: 052151892X
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2009-08-31
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• More Book Details

Summary

The modern view of causation can be traced back to the mechanistic science of Descartes, whose rejection of Aristotelian physics, with its concept of substantial forms, in favor of mechanical explanations was a turning-point in the history of philosophy. However the reasoning which led Descartes and other early moderns in this direction is not well understood. For the first time, this book traces Descartes' groundbreaking theory of scientific explanation back to the mathematical demonstrations of Aristotelian mechanics and interprets these advances in light of the available arguments for and against substantial forms. It also examines how Descartes' new theory led him to develop a metaphysical foundation for his science that could avoid skeptical objections. It will appeal to a wide range of readers interested in the philosophy and science of the early modern period.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	p. viii
List of abbreviations	p. x
Introduction	p. 1
Resurrecting The Substantial Form	p. 15
Descartes' arguments against the substantial form	p. 16
Aquinas' introduction of the substantial form	p. 31
Suarez's defense of the substantial form	p. 40
Challenging The Substantial Form	p. 65
Sanchez's skeptical humanist attack	p. 69
The mechanical alternative to substantial forms	p. 85
Cartesian science and the principles of Aristotelian mechanics	p. 120
Eliminating Substantial Forms	p. 155
Atoms, modes, and other heresies	p. 160
Descartes' metaphysical alternative to substantial forms	p. 186
Conclusion	p. 221
Works cited	p. 226
Index	p. 232
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