Product Description
SoftcoverPublisher: The Open Court Publishing Company, 1966 ... Read more

Book Description
This accessible supplement makes Descartes’ text come alive for students by showing them how to read, think critically, and write about this key, classic work. Engaging interactive devices draw students into an intimate philosophical encounter that they can model in later work in philosophy. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

More than Descartes' text
I am the instructor of a college course in which we read Descartes' Meditations.I ordered this edition because I wanted to use the Rubin translation that also appears in the Perry/Bratman anthology Introduction to Philosophy 3rd ed., and because the bookstore could not obtain the Arete Press edition of Rubin's translation.

For the purpose of a college course text I do not find this edition ideal.The commentary is much too intrusive and distracting.Moreover, this is *not* the same translation as found in Perry/Bratman!Instructors, beware.

For the general reader looking for a guide, however, this might be useful ...

Excellent Introduction To Philosophy
This is probably the best introduction to philosophy that anyone could hope for. Descartes is not hard to read or comprehend but this particular book is unusually helpful to the newcomer. The author tries to give thereader a good idea of what philosophy is about and how to read philsophicalworks. There are detailed questions that instruct the reader on how to"think like Descartes" and to construct logically sound argumentsbased upon minimal assumptions. An excellent introduction to philosophy andto critical thinking. ... Read more

Book Description
In Descartes in 90 Minutes, Paul Strathern offers a concise, expert account of Descartes's life and ideas, and explains their influence on man's struggle to understand his existence in the world. The book also includes selections from Descartes's work; a brief list of suggested reading for those who wish to push further; and chronologies that place Descartes within his own age and in the broader scheme of philosophy. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (6)

A study into the mind of a genius.
Rene Descartes was one of A kind, not only a philosopher,
mathematician, physicist,and Isaac Newtons mentor. He was
a good person looking for truth. What I admired the most
about Descartes; was his search for God & his truths. He
knew that the physical body was separate from the spirit
body, interestingly so did Aristotle; who descartes had
studied with great interest.

The life and the main ideas of the work
Descartes was like so many of the great philosophers orphaned when young. A lonely child never given much affection he wandered the world never really able to make a place home. But when he wandered he thought. And his thought was remarkably original not only in philosophy, but in various sciences including astronomy and physics, and in mathematics. He made major contributions in more than one area including supplying the Cartesian coordinates idea for mathematics. His great achievement according to Strethan is his being the first philosopher to break the stranglehold of Aristotelian thought, and liberate the world to focus on the thinking individual and his subjectivity. In the famous Cogito Ergo Sum Descartes begins by doubting everything and comes to the one certainty which should help him build another system of thought. Strathern makes the point that the Thirty Years War the uncertain times in which he lived made it somehow necessary for him to seek out ' certainty'. From his thinking self he goes to establish the reality of the world, and the reality of God.
Descartes a devout Catholic died in Protestant Sweden on a fools error arranged at the whim of a King.

Entertaining biography, but philosophy too sketchy
Anyone who attempts to make philosophy accessible to non-academics certainly has the tip of my hat, but DESCARTES IN 90 MINUTES sacrifices too much substance in the interest of readability. This book would be OK for a high school student preparing a short paper or presentation on French philosopher/mathematician Rene Descarte, but for those of us who are motivated by anything more than casual curiosity about philosophers will be left unsatisfied.

I did learn quite a few facts from this very clearly-written book, such as Descarte's odd sleeping habits, his apparent facility in composing musical verse, and his compulsive wanderlust. The problem is that biographies of Great Thinkers just don't have a lot of impact without including some exposition of their Great Thoughts. "I think, therefore I am," is about as deep as it gets here.

Strathern Review
Starthern's goal is to provide a quick, flawless guide to the major thinkers of the world: I'm unclear as to whether he succeeded or not.I suppose he succeeds simply because he has published these works, people buy them, and they are quite popular.I am not a stickler for erudition, I would have like to have learned from this series, but there just isn't enough information on the philosopher's work.If you're in a philosophy class and want to get a quick preview of what you're going to learn, chances are you will find more or less the same information in the introduction of your text.If you just want to learn on your own, it's your decision as to what you're looking for.For example, this is what I learned about Descartes from this book:

1) He was an eccentric who liked to sleep in2) His theories on mathmatics were contraversial3) He believes that we exist simply because we think4) He died for a silly reason.

That's it folks.#2 & 3 may seem exciting, but there is no explanation as to why or how these manifests themself.

Another winner from Strathern!
Strathern is a master at this kind of work, which mixes biography, critical analysis, historical context and humor all in a concise, informative & entertaining package. He lists a time line for thephilosopher, his place in world/philosophic history & a selection ofworks for furthur reading. This series of books by Strathern is a wonderfulcourse in Philosophy 101 without ever having to go to college, allpresented in plain, easy to understand English without being bogged downwith philosophy's often confusing vernacular. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (10)

Superb Biography, Creatively Composed
Scholarly in what it delivers, but delightful in how it delivers what it delivers, COGITO ERGO SUM is highly informative and fun to read. Touching on all the key places, players, and events in the philosopher's life,Watson tells us (at least) as much as we want to know about Descartes as he cuts through the myths that have been passed down to us about him. This meant dissociating his biography from the still-operative hagiographic traditions: the French Catholic apologetic tradition and the scientific apologetic tradition. The result is a skeptical biography, full of distrust toward tradition and authority, written very much in the spirit of methodical doubt practiced by its subject. At the same time, COGITO ERGO SUM is wonderfully readable, humane, engaged, and funny. By destroying the monument called Descartes, Watson has unveiled the man who, it might have been suspected, turns out to be a much more compelling, complex, human, and interesting Descartes than we have known in the past. COGITO ERGO SUM is for specialists, general readers, and just about anyone interested in biography and imaginative prose writing.

Highly recommended for biography and library shelves.
Cogito, Ergo Sum: The Life of Rene Descartes is an in-depth biography of the "Father of Modern Philosophy", mathematician and architect Rene Descartes (1596-1650). From his childhood and schooling, to his contributions to science such as the invention of analytic geometry and his methods for testing hypotheses that formed the foundation of experimental science, to his piety as a Christian and much more, Cogito, Ergo Sum closely follows Descartes' life. A biography first and foremost, written for lay readers and scholars alike, Cogito, Ergo Sum brings alive the history of a truly remarkable and forward-thinking man. Highly recommended for biography and library shelves.

engaging combination of essay and biography
Other reviewers have singled out comparatively minor mistakes in Watson's book, and some have complained about the way he injects himself into Descartes's story.But I like the way Watson makes it personal, recounting stories from his travels and laying out his own philosophical attitudes in some punchy prose.I suppose if someone wants a cold retelling of the facts of Descartes's life, another book would be better.But as a long personal essay that aims to explain why the author finds his subject so interesting, I think it's very well done, and a good read.

The Greek poet Ovid
I have read Watson's book up till page 72, waiting for it to get better and more relevant. We hear a lot, for instance about the author's stay in a rented house in Franeker, about Dutch licorice and bread, about the family line of Descartes -his great-great uncles, and so on-, but nothing on Descartes' philosophy. That may come after page 72. I don't know. I stopped there, because Watson at that point argues that Descartes at La Flèche will have read "the Greek authors Ovid and Seneca the Tragic". That did it for me. I quitted.

a disgrace
Richard Watson certainly seems like an amiable man, a great asset for your vernissage, your cocktail party, or any other function that merits a lively imagination above actual knowledge. I won't bore you stiff by addressing every blatant error in this book: it will suffice to say that our Prof. Disney has, single-handedly, come up with an entirely new successor to Prince Frederick-Henry of Orange (1584 - 1647): a certain Henry III. All it takes is a monkey (Descartes would have loved that) with a computer, to google himself to enlightenment: that the good prince Frederick Henry was in fact succeeded by his son William II, who was succeeded by his son, William III, Prince of Orange and King of England, Schotland and Ireland. 'Elementary, my dear Watson'. (And no, Richard: Descartes didn't meet Huygens in 1630, they first met in 1635, and no, no, Richard: 'Stadhouder' is not quite the same as 'Commander-in-Chief', and no, no, no, Richard: Constantijn Huygens served two, not three Stadhouders as first secretary, etc. etc.). All this nonsense in one page (160). ... Read more

Book Description
A major contribution to Descartes studies, this book provides a panorama of cutting-edge scholarship ranging widely over Descartes's own primary concerns: metaphysics, physics, and its applications.It is at once a tool for scholars and--steering clear of technical Cartesian science--an accessible resource that will delight nonspecialists.The contributors include Edwin Curley, Willis Doney, Alan Gabbey, Daniel Garber, Marjorie Grene, Gary Hatfield, Marleen Rozemond, John Schuster, Dennis Sepper, Stephen Voss, Stephen Wagner, Margaret Welson, Jean Marie Beyssade, Michelle Beyssade, Michel Henry, Evert van Leeuwen, Jean-Luc Marion, Genevieve Rodis-Lewis, and Jean-Pierre Seris. Combining new textual sensitivity with attentiveness to history, they represent the best established scholars and most exciting new voices, including both English speaking and newly-translated writers.Part I examines the foundations of Descartes's philosophy: Cartesian certainty; the phenomenology of the cogito and its modulations in the passions; and the defensibility and comprehensibility of the Cartesian God.The second part examines Descartes's groundbreaking metaphysics: mind's distinctness from and interaction with body; imagination; perception; and language.Part III examines Cartesian science:the revolutionary rhetoric of the Rules and the Discourse; the metaphysical foundations of physics; the interplay of rationalism and empiricism; the mechanics and human biology that flow from Descartes's physics. ... Read more

Book Description
This anthology brings together many of the more significant contributions to Cartesian scholarship, some of which reach far back as the 1930s. Altogether, there are well over 100 detailed analyses and discussions of salient aspects of Descartes' Promethean legacy.

Because Descartes intended his system to embrace not only philosophy but also a complete scientific corpus, this collection covers both philosophical issues and scientific views: Volume 1 is devoted to questions of Cartesian Method and epistemology; Volumes 2 and 3 concentrate on his metaphysics; and Volume 4 discusses Descartes' scientific views and achievements.

The lucidity and originality of the essays, a number of which are already classics of Cartesian scholarship, will ensure that this anthology becomes a standard in Cartesian philosophy. An invaluable resource, Renée Descartes provides a large variety of introductions, analyses, criticisms, and appraisals of the problems which preoccupied Descartes and the solutions he propounded. ... Read more