Descartes' Cogito

Erscheinungsjahr 2015
ISBN: 978-0-521-82166-7
Verlag: Cambridge University Press

Buch, Englisch, 326 Seiten, Format (B × H): 157 mm x 235 mm, Gewicht: 624 g

Perhaps the most famous proposition in the history of philosophy is Descartes' cogito 'I think, therefore I am'. Husain Sarkar claims in this provocative interpretation of Descartes that the ancient tradition of reading the cogito as an argument is mistaken. It should, he says, be read as an intuition. Through this interpretative lens, the author reconsiders key Cartesian topics: the ideal inquirer, the role of clear and distinct ideas, the relation of these to the will, memory, the nature of intuition and deduction, the nature, content and elusiveness of 'I', and the tenability of the doctrine of the creation of eternal truths. Finally, the book demonstrates how Descartes' attempt to prove the existence of God is foiled by a new Cartesian Circle.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Sarkar, Husain

Fachgebiete

• Geisteswissenschaften Philosophie Geschichte der Westlichen Philosophie Westliche Philosophie: Neuzeit
• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Geschichtliche Themen Kultur- und Ideengeschichte
• Geisteswissenschaften Philosophie Erkenntnistheorie

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Preface; Acknowledgements; Abbreviations; 1. The prolegomena to any future epistemology; 2. The problem of epistemology; 3. The solution: cogito; 4. A skeptic against reason; 5. The five ways; 6. Cogito: not an argument; 7. The content of the cogito; 8. Memory, explanation, and will; Appendices; Bibliography; Name index; Subject index.