This collection of fourteen essays, all published here for the first time, offers a stimulating reassessment of the central theme of Descartes's metaphysics. The first section examines Descartes's place in the history of philosophy and his unique influence in shaping the nature of philosophical enquiry. The central sections of the book cover the Cartesian doctrine of substance, the place of God in Descartes's philosophy, and his views on the relationship between reason and will. A concluding section examines the problematice role of sensory awaremess of Descartes's account of our knowledge of...

This volume brings together some of the best articles on Descartes published in the last fifty years. Edited by the renowned Descartes specialist John Cottingham, the selection covers the full range of Descartes's thought, including chapters on the central issues in Cartesian metaphysics, the relationship between mind and body, human nature and the passions, and the structure of scientific explanation.

The question 'What is the meaning of life?' is one of the most fascinating, oldest and most difficult questions human beings have ever posed themselves. In an increasingly secularized culture, it remains a question to which we are ineluctably and powerfully drawn.
Drawing skillfully on a wealth of thinkers, writers and scientists from Augustine, Descartes, Freud and Camus, to Spinoza, Pascal, Darwin, and Wittgenstein, On the Meaning of Life breathes new vitality into one of the very biggest questions.

Descartes occupies a position of piviotal importance as one of the founding fathers of modern philosophy; he is, perhaps the most widely studied of all philosophers. In this authoritative collection an international team of leading scholars in Cartesian studies present the full range of Descartes' extraordinary philosophical achievement. His life and the development of his thought, as well as the intellectual background to and reception of his work are treated at length. At the core of the volume are a group of chapters on his metaphysics: the celebrated "Cogito" argument, the proofs of God's...

Can philosophy enable us to lead better lives through a systematic understanding of our human nature? John Cottingham's thought-provoking study examines three major philosophical approaches to this problem. Starting with the attempts of Classical philosophers to cope with the recalcitrant forces of the passions, he moves on to examine the moral psychology of Descartes, and concludes by analyzing the insights of modern psychoanalytic theory into the human predicament. His study provides a fresh and challenging perspective on moral philosophy and psychology for students and specialists alike.

Offering a new model for the philosophy of religion, John Cottingham combines emotional and intellectual aspects of our human experience, and embraces practical as well as theoretical concerns. Cottingham reveals how a religious worldview is best understood not as an isolated set of doctrines, but as intimately related to spiritual praxis and to the search for self-understanding and moral growth. Touching on many important debates in contemporary philosophy and theology, but accessible to general readers, this book covers a range of central topics in the philosophy of religion.

In this new introduction to the life, thought and works of one of the greatest seventeenth-century philosophers, John Cottingham aims to place Descartes' ideas in their historical context while at the same time showing how they relate to a network of philosophical problems that are still vigorously debated today.

Separate chapters are devoted to Descartes' life and the intellectual climate of his times; the Cartesian method; the reconstruction of knowledge from self to God and to the external world; Descartes' theory of the material universe; his account of mind and body; and his...

Western Philosophy: An Anthology provides the most comprehensive and authoritative survey of the Western philosophical tradition from ancient Greece to the leading philosophers of today.

• Features substantial and carefully chosen excerpts from all the greats of philosophy, arranged thematically and chronologically
• Readings are introduced and linked together by a lucid philosophical commentary which guides the reader through the key arguments
• Embraces all the major subfields of philosophy: theory of knowledge and metaphysics, philosophy of mind, religion and...

Leading philosophers reflect on what belief in God, or its absence, means for the subject and what difference it makes to the flow and perceived significance of someone's life.

• A stimulating juxtaposition of views including the different perspectives of Christians, Buddhists, Jews, atheists and agnostics
  
• Contributors include Sir Anthony Kenny, Alvin Plantinga, John Haldane, Richard Norman, David Benatar and John Cottingham
  
• Enables the reader to see how crucial issues about the nature and significance of religious belief are dealt...

To confront the Cartesian system is to contemplate a magnificently laid out map of human cognitive endeavour. To follow Descartes' arguments is to be drawn into some of the most fundamental and challenging issues in philosophy. In this Dictionary, Cottingham presents an alphabetized guide to this most daunting of philosophers. Key concepts and ideas in Cartesian thought are traced through Descartes' writings, and put in the context of the 17th-century intellectual climate and subsequent interpretation. The newcomer to Descartes, whether student or general reader, should find thorough guidance...