Meditations, Objections, And Replies

by Descartes, Rene; Ariew, Roger; Cress, Donald A.

• ISBN13: 9780872207981
• ISBN10: 0872207986
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2006-03-30
• Publisher: Hackett Pub Co Inc

Summary

Among the strengths of this edition are reliable, accessible translations, useful editorial materials, and a straightforward presentation of the Objections and Replies, including the Objections from Caterus, Arnauld, and Hobbes, and Descartes' Replies, in their entirety. 'The Letter Serving as a Reply to Gassendi' -- in which several of Descartes' associates present Gassendi's best arguments and Descartes' replies -- conveys the highlights and important issues of their notoriously extended exchange. Roger Ariew's illuminating general Introduction discusses the Meditations and the intellectual environment surrounding its reception. Also included are a bibliography and chronology.

Table of Contents

Introduction	vii
The Meditations and the Objections and Replies	vii
Selected Bibliography	xx
Acknowledgments	xxi
Chronology of Descartes' Life and Works	xxii
Meditations on First Philosophy	1	(50)
Letter of Dedication	1	(3)
Preface to the Reader	4	(2)
Synopsis of the Meditations	6	(3)
Meditation One: Concerning Those Things That Can Be Called Into Doubt	9	(4)
Meditation Two: Concerning the Nature of the Human Mind: That It Is Better Known than the Body	13	(6)
Meditation Three: Concerning God, That He Exists	19	(10)
Meditation Four: Concerning the True and the False	29	(6)
Meditation Five: Concerning the Essence of Material Things, And Again Concerning God, That He Exists	35	(5)
Meditation Six: Concerning the Existence of Material Things, and the Real Distinction between Mind and Body	40	(11)
Objections by Some Learned Men to the Preceding Meditations, with Replies by the Author	51	(130)
First Set of Objections	51	(7)
Reply by the Author to the First Set of Objections	58	(12)
Second Set of Objections	70	(5)
Reply to the Second Set of Objections	75	(25)
Third Set of Objections, by a Famous English Philosopher, with the Author's Replies	100	(15)
Fourth Set of Objections: A Letter to the Distinguished Gentleman	115	(15)
Reply to the Fourth Set of Objections	130	(24)
Announcement by the Author Regarding the Fifth Set of Objections	154	(1)
Letter from Descartes to Clerselier Serving as a Reply to a Selection of the Principal Counter-Objections Made by Gassendi Against the Preceding Replies	155	(7)
Sixth Set of Objections	162	(5)
Reply to the Sixth Set of Objections	167	(14)
Index	181