Innate Ideas

Innate Ideas
Author: Stephen P. Stich
Publisher: Univ of California Press
Total Pages: 236
Release: 1975
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 9780520029613

Descartes's Changing Mind

Descartes's Changing Mind
Author: Peter Machamer
Publisher: Princeton University Press
Total Pages: 273
Release: 2009-07-06
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 1400830435

Descartes's works are often treated as a unified, unchanging whole. But in Descartes's Changing Mind, Peter Machamer and J. E. McGuire argue that the philosopher's views, particularly in natural philosophy, actually change radically between his early and later works--and that any interpretation of Descartes must take account of these changes. The first comprehensive study of the most significant of these shifts, this book also provides a new picture of the development of Cartesian science, epistemology, and metaphysics. No changes in Descartes's thought are more significant than those that occur between the major works The World (1633) and Principles of Philosophy (1644). Often seen as two versions of the same natural philosophy, these works are in fact profoundly different, containing distinct conceptions of causality and epistemology. Machamer and McGuire trace the implications of these changes and others that follow from them, including Descartes's rejection of the method of abstraction as a means of acquiring knowledge, his insistence on the infinitude of God's power, and his claim that human knowledge is limited to that which enables us to grasp the workings of the world and develop scientific theories.

A Companion to Cognitive Science

A Companion to Cognitive Science
Author: William Bechtel
Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell
Total Pages: 816
Release: 1999-09-10
Genre: Science
ISBN: 9780631218517

Unmatched in the quality of its world-renowned contributors, this multidisciplinary companion serves as both a course text and a reference book across the broad spectrum of issues of concern to cognitive science.

Rational Intuition

Rational Intuition
Author: Lisa M. Osbeck
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 451
Release: 2014-08-25
Genre: Psychology
ISBN: 1107022398

Rational Intuition explores the concept of intuition as it relates to rationality through mediums of history, philosophy, cognitive science, and psychology.

Descartes on Innate Ideas

Descartes on Innate Ideas
Author: Deborah A. Boyle
Publisher: A&C Black
Total Pages: 186
Release: 2009-07-28
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 1847061907

Offers the first sustained treatment of Descartes's conception of innateness.

Locke and Cartesian Philosophy

Locke and Cartesian Philosophy
Author: Philippe Hamou
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 236
Release: 2018-06-13
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 0192546643

This volume presents twelve original essays, by an international team of scholars, on the relation of John Locke's thought to Descartes and to Cartesian philosophers such as Malebranche, Clauberg, and the Port-Royal authors. The essays, preceded by a substantial introduction, cover a large variety of topics from natural philosophy to religion, philosophy of mind and body, metaphysics and epistemology. The volume shows that in Locke's complex relationship to Descartes and Cartesianism, stark opposition and subtle 'family resemblances' are tightly intertwined. Since the turn of the twentieth century, the theory of knowledge has been the main comparative focus. According to an influential historiographical conception, Descartes and Locke form together the spearhead in the 'epistemological turn' of early modern philosophy. In bringing together the contributions to this volume, the editors advocate for a shift of emphasis. A full comparison of Locke's and Descartes's positions should cover not only their theories of knowledge, but also their views on natural philosophy, metaphysics, and religion. Their conflicting claims on issues such as cosmic organization, the qualities and nature of bodies, the substance of the soul, and God's government of the world, are of interest not only in their own right, to take the full measure of Locke's complex relation to Descartes, but also as they allow a better understanding of the continuing epistemological debate between the philosophical heirs of these thinkers.

Discourse on the Method

Discourse on the Method
Author: René Descartes
Publisher: Yale University Press
Total Pages: 400
Release: 1996-01-01
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 9780300067736

Descartes' ideas not only changed the course of Western philosophy but also led to or transformed the fields of metaphysics, epistemology, physics and mathematics, political theory and ethics, psychoanalysis, and literature and the arts. This book reprints Descartes' major works, Discourse on Method and Meditations, and presents essays by leading scholars that explore his contributions in each of those fields and place his ideas in the context of his time and our own. There are chapters by David Weissman on metaphysics and psychoanalysis, John Post on epistemology, Lou Massa on physics and mathematics, William T. Bluhm on politics and ethics, and Thomas Pavel on literature and art. These essays are accompanied by others by David Weissman and by Stephen Toulmin that introduce the idea of intellectual lineages, discuss the period in which Descartes wrote, and reexamine the premises of his philosophy in light of contemporary philosophical, political, and social thinking.

Descartes and the Puzzle of Sensory Representation

Descartes and the Puzzle of Sensory Representation
Author: Raffaella De Rosa
Publisher: OUP Oxford
Total Pages: 206
Release: 2010-01-07
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 0191610062

While much has been written on Descartes' theory of mind and ideas, no systematic study of his theory of sensory representation and misrepresentation is currently available in the literature. Descartes and the Puzzle of Sensory Misrepresentation is an ambitious attempt to fill this gap. It argues against the established view that Cartesian sensations are mere qualia by defending the view that they are representational; it offers a descriptivist-causal account of their representationality that is critical of, and differs from, all other extant accounts (such as, for example, causal, teleofunctional and purely internalist accounts); and it has the advantage of providing an adequate solution to the problem of sensory misrepresentation within Descartes' internalist theory of ideas. In sum, the book offers a novel account of the representationality of Cartesian sensations; provides a panoramic overview, and critical assessment, of the scholarly literature on this issue; and places Descartes' theory of sensation in the central position it deserves among the philosophical and scientific investigations of the workings of the human mind.

The God Gene

The God Gene
Author: Dean H. Hamer
Publisher: Anchor
Total Pages: 258
Release: 2005-09-27
Genre: Science
ISBN: 0307276937

The overwhelming majority of Americans believe in God; this conviction has existed since the beginning of recorded time and is shared by billions around the world. In The God Gene, Dr. Dean Hamer reveals that this inclination towards religious faith is in good measure due to our genes and may even offer an evolutionary advantage by helping us get through difficulties, reducing stress, preventing disease, and extending life. Popular science at its best, The God Gene is an in-depth, fully accessible inquiry into cutting-edge research that can change the way we see ourselves and the world around us. Written with balance, integrity, and admirable scientific objectivity, this is a book for readers of science and religion alike.