Discourse on Method and Meditations on First Philosophy by Descartes Rene

Discourse on Method and Meditations on First Philosophy by Descartes Rene

I perceived it to be possible to arrive at knowledge highly useful in life; and in room of the Speculative Philosophy usually taught in the Schools, to discover a Practical, by means of which, knowing the force and action of fire, water, air, the stars, the heavens, and all the other bodies that surround us, as distinctly as we know the various crafts of our artizans, we might also apply them in the same way to all the uses to which they are adapted, and thus render ourselves the lords and possessors of nature. --from Part VI of Discourse on the Method Sometimes called the father of modern philosophy, French mathematician, scientist, and writer RENE DESCARTES (1596-1650) continues to have a deeply profound impact on our modern world. His thinking on how the mind works and what is it capable of has profoundly impacted our understanding of ourselves--he summed up his philosophy with the phrase I think, therefore I am, which still thrills us--and his influence extends to our own experiments with modern computing and artificial intelligence. Here, in one volume, are two of the great thinker's most significant works: - Discourse on the Method was written in French and first published in 1637 under the full title Discourse on the Method of Rightly Conducting the Reason, and Seeking Truth in the Sciences--its treatise on the value of doubt and skepticism when studying the natural world laid the foundation for the modern scientific method as we still employ it today. - Meditations, originally subtitled In which the existence of God and the immortality of the soul are demonstrated, was written in Latin and first published in 1641--here, Descartes considers that nature of the human mind, how we can know what we know, and the essence of material things. Essential reading for understanding both today's science and today's philosophy, these foundational works are here presented in the 1901 edition of the 1850 English translations by Scottish poet, philosopher, and historian JOHN VEITCH (1829-1894).

"The new version of Cress's translation of Descartes's Meditations has attained an unusually high degree of readability. . and, at the same time, of fidelity to the original.  This combination . . . makes the work especially suitable for classroom use." —Roger Ariew, University of South Florida, and Marjorie Grene (1910-2009), Virginia Polytechnic Institute

"An excellent edition and the price is fair." —Alan Soble, University of New Orleans

Donald A. Cress is Professor Emeritus of Philosophy, University of Wisconsin, Parkside. His translations of Descartes' Meditations on First Philosophy and Discourse on Method are also published by Hackett.

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9780872204201
ISBN 10	0872204200
Title	Discourse on Method and Meditations on First Philosophy
Author	Descartes Rene
Series	Hackett Classics
Condition	Unavailable
Binding Type	Paperback
Publisher	Hackett Publishing Co, Inc
Year published	1999-06-15
Number of pages	128
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.